Calling all ARCT holders

[lagin]

 Is it true that it the difficulty of my pieces will not affect my score?  Can I pick the "easier" pieces, play them well, and still have a hope at distinction, or do I need to have some "tougher" pieces for that?

So far I'm thinking, Beethoven - Moonlight,
Rachmaninoff - Prelude in g minor,
and Chopin Preludes - 9, 11, 22, and I forget the other one.

Thoughts, comments?

[invictus]

Well your pieces seem ok in difficulty

But it does have a trend that people tend to get higher grades if they do harder pieces

IF THEY DO IT WELL

There also needs to be a balance between hard and easy pieces, for the stupid balanced program crap.

[viking]

I personally wouldnt do the Chopin Preludes, but rather do a Chopin Polonaise, Ballade, or something larger.  The difficulty affects the mark, but it also doesn't.  If one were to play a hard program reasonalbly well, and a medium level program reasonably well, the mark would probably be about the same.  However, it is only possible to get around 95 or higher if you play a difficult program outstanding.  You get my point?

[lagin]

Um, so a medium level and a hard level both reasonable well get equal marks??  Oh, and I have decided to not do the preludes after all.  I was think Chopin Nocturne in c sharp minor, op. 27, no. 1  It's about 5 minutes long, but only just over 4 pages.  Is that too short do you think?  And viking, am I ruining a chance at distinction by doing Moonlight?  I really like all the movements (which is rare for me), but the main reason for doing it is my teacher is the most familiar with it, and it's within my technical boundaries.
And since you're more familiar with this than I, where do my three choices so far stand?  Medium?  Hard?  Or are they Easy?  (And please don't tell me I need pieces like La Campanella to get distinction, because I can tell you right now, that's NOT going to happen!   I'm no virtuoso, lol)


And while I'm firing away questions here.  Do I repeat the exposition of my Sonata?  Or just skip repeats like grades 1 - 10?  And If I do my selections so far, I think Beethoven is 15 minutes, maybe less if I don't do repeats, Rach is just over 4 minutes, and Chopin is 5.  Hmmm.... Do I need more length?  I don't fancy performing Baroque and was going to go for a short one there, too.  It's just that List B and C are the best bets for getting a long piece, and they are pretty short.  Ahhh!  I hate such decisions.  Viking, come back online and coach me on putting my program together

[nanabush]

I'm choosing like medium to more difficult pieces.  You don't want to play something that they hear a thousand times (as many have said before)..  If you play an excellent moonlight then good, if it's nothing special, they'll probly kill you.  Don't completely avoid those pieces, but if you think you play them well enough, then go for it.  I'm playing pieces that are known, but not overplayed...  Bach PF C# bk1, Grieg sonata, Brahms Rhapsody in G-, Ravel Sonatine, Prokofiev sonata 3, Rachmaninoff Etude Eb- op39 ( which i might switch cuz i'm approaching 1 hour pretty closely)...

[lagin]

Okay, so here's my update so far:

List A:  Bach, Toccata and fugue in e minor, BWV 914
List B:  Beethoven, Moonlight Sonata, c sharp minor
List C:  Chopin, Nocturne in c sharp minor, op. 27, no. 1
List D:  Rachmaninoff, Prelude in g minor, (op. 23, no.5 I think)
List E:  no clue
Concert Etude: no clue

I'm thinking for my last two, that they should probably be in Major keys to balance out the minor(ness) of everything else.  OH NO!  I just noticed B and C are in the same key.  Is that really bad when you're putting together an exam program?  And my other question was, if I'm doing a major Chopin piece already, a Chopin etude would probably be too much of one composer for this type of exam, no?

[nanabush]

An etude I really enjoy, and am extremely tempted to play, perhaps on the side, is the Eb major etude op 33 by Rachmaninoff.  The sound keeps getting grander throughout the piece, and by the end it sounds so impressive.  And it's only about 2 minutes long.  As for list E, I might suggest the Barber Excursions (sheet music at gamingforce forum) You play 2 out of the four as one selection.  The first and fourth are both upbeat and I [guess] are in major keys.  They're not overly long either together.  The second I think is a slow bluesy type piece, and the third is 'strange'...  If i remember correctly it's 7 on 8 or 7 on 4 or something really weird.  Ya check out some rach etudes which are all excellent, and the Barber.  And if you're worried about having two pieces by the same composer... I'm sure alot of ppl do that... I'm sure hundreds of people have played a chopin piece for list C and a chopin etude. Call the board or something if you're worried about that.

[I Love Xenakis]

If you play the Chopin Ballade no. 4 great you'll get a better score than if you play the raindrop prelude fabulously.


It's just common sense.

[lagin]

It would probably be okay to have 2 of the same composers, but 2 of the same composers, AND two pieces (B and C) in the same key, AND 4 minor pieces played in a row?  Of course, I want you to say, no problem, no one will care, but realistically am I really pushing it?  Can you lose marks for stuff like this??  

[viking]

Sorry ive been away from the computer for a while...

[invictus]

Yes, that's what i hate, the stupid balanced program sh*t, otherwise 20th all the way!

It has to be balanced as in

tempo
dynamics
period
composers
mood
rhythm

difficult huh