Audition for Pre-Tertiary Scholarship

[Roastie_FC]

At the ANU (australian national university) theres a Pre-Tertiary Scholarship available and i've applied.
I have been part of a program before hand which is called MuST (Music for Students with Talent) and I had a sort of scholarship then. But now this is the full on scholarship coz the one i had from MuST was only for two years.
I've only been learning for two years! and i havent had a teacher since the beginning of this year because the program (MuST) starts from the beginning of high school. I'm 15 btw and if i had have continued i would have done grade 5 in AMEB (now possibly grade 4 because my practical is good but theory not too good lol)
Anyway my audition is on the 10th of October
and i have to play two contrasting pieces from different periods of time:
im thinking:

Solfegietto - Scarlatti
and
Fantasy in D Minor - Mozart (Just started that a few days ago)

Good choice? Do you think I'll make it with those pieces?? Anyone whos ever applied for a Pre-Tertiary Scholarship at the ANU?!?!?

[dreamaurora]

Hi, Roastie, you are progressing well. I am not sure about the requirement of repertoire they require. But since you mention its pre-tertiary, it can be anywhere from grade 5-8 AMEB. You can try asking around people auditioning for the scholarship too, to gauge the standard being required. As for your audition pieces, I would try to avoid the fantasia in d minor, since it is overplayed. Try for a romantic or contemporary composer's intermediate piece, there are many good choices, consult your teacher for better options.

[eddie92099]

Mozart and Scarlatti are far too close (they overlap by one year) when there is a 300+ year timespan to choose from,
Ed

[Kel]

can i ask where abouts this uni is?
and have the applications already been due
im in yr 12 and are looking at doing some kind of music uni course

[Roastie_FC]

its AUstralian National University btw...

umm yes!

The Fantasy - overplayed hey? damnnn!!!! AND close?!?!? so its not really contrasting works.
Oh my God - i'm screwed lol!

Does anyone have any good suggestions?!
Something around the same difficulty as the Fantasy but not longer in length. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I really wanted to learn Revolutionary Etude by Chopin but I dun really have time to perfect!!!
arghhH!!!!
i dont have a teacher to ask! Remember?! I havent had a teacher since the beginning of this year!
HELP!!!!

[Roastie_FC]

oooh terribly sorry!

its Solfeggietto by Bach (C.P.E)

does this change of composer make it more of a 'contrasting work' compared to Mozarts Fantasy?

[eddie92099]

Unfortunately C.P.E. Bach died in 1788, just 3 years before Mozart! My suggestion would be to play something form the Romantic period (Chopin is the obvious choice, but I would avoid him for an audition - possibly Liszt or Brahms?) or something from the French school (Debussy would be good),
Ed

[Roastie_FC]

OMG!!! ARGH!!
lol
im so stuffed for this
I'm packed full of work of all sorts and i have like no time
I'm desperate now

Can anyone suggest PIECES (not composers) that i could be able to play for this audition considering im playing Solfeggietto??!?!

Try to limit the difficulty to that of Fantasy in D Minor by Mozart and no longer than 4-5 pages
pleasssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee
im stressing out to hte max!
cheers

[dreamaurora]

Hi , Roastie , these are my recommendation :

Isaac Albeniz - Tango from Suite Espana
Faure - Romance Sans Paroles no 3
Bartok - 2 contrasting pieces from 6 Romanian Dances
Chopin - Waltz op 69 no 2
Liszt - Consolation no 2
Grieg - Berceuse
Debussy - Arabesque no 1

Hope it helps  

[Roastie_FC]

thanks dreamaurora
suggestions such as those are greatly appreciated
i think the Consolation 2 and the Waltz by Chopin was the best choice or maybe the Tango but im yet to hear the Romances Sans Paroles by Faure

out of the three i picked which one is the easiest to catch onto?

[dreamaurora]

You can listen Romance Sans Paroles no 3 at https://www.classicalarchives.com/main/f.html or www.gmn.com/classical, find the mediaplayer and navigate yourway to faure. Anyway, if you have a good sense of rythm , I would suggest Tango, if not then the Waltz will be a good choice. In my opinion, Romance Sans Paroles will be the much better choice, Faure is seldom heard, and this piece is well, simply too beautiful.

[Roastie_FC]

ok i heard Romance yes it sounds good but come to think of it none of those songs are REALLY that difficult..... or its not material that would impress the judges - i dont think it would..
any better suggestsion dreamaurora?
anyone?

[dreamaurora]

Roastie, I suggest the pieces based on whatever knowledge I have of your level of playing. For your information, I don't think Solfigietto is difficult either, it is just a bunch of scale runs grouped together , in fact according to a pedagogy book I have, Solfigietto is ranked lower in terms of difficulty compared to the pieces I have listed above.

Do not fall into temptation of choosing overly difficult pieces just for the sake of playing a difficult piece or impressing judges. A lot of pianists, including some from this forum, seem to have this misconception that the more difficult and virtousic the pieces are, the judges at competitions and auditions will be more impressed. Throw this extremely flawed thinking out of your mind. Instead ,choose pieces that are comfortable for your technical level and one that allow you to demonstrate your musicality worthy of your level. A intermediate piece played well will be music to the judges, remember, you are playing for qualified and experienced musicians, they are looking for music, not some fancy fireworks.

I can suggest you advance pieces, but I would not in the best interest of you. Anyway, you only have one month and one week to prepare a piece, you will not want to choose difficult pieces to prepare, that would be a suicide.

[Hmoll]

D. Scarlatti and Mozart are not too close together. True, Scarlatti died in 1757, and Mozart was Born in 1756, but they are from two different stylistic periods - Mozart/Classical, and Scarlatti/Baroque. Bach was born the same year as Scarlatti, and died around the same year - 1750 - and no one says Bach is too close to Mozart.

However the Scarlatti piece you listed is probably not the best audition piece. I would suggest a Bach invention, simfonia, or P&F from the WTC, if you really want to play something Baroque. Or, dreamaurora had some very good suggestions of 20th century and romantic era pieces - especially the Chopin Waltz.

[Roastie_FC]

heyyy!!!!

first of all its CPE Bach not Scarlatti i made a mistake which i rectified earlier on...

AND

You want a beautiful song?!??! not overly-difficult to the point where its just blabber?!??!

i chose to do
Serenade by Schubert
THAT is a nice song
what do u think?