20th century work for conservatory audition

[paris]

in about 2 weeks i'll be choosing new repertoire which i'm gonna play for conservatory auditions in 2007. i know it sounds far away from now, but i want truly polish pieces..bla bla..

here's what my teacher and me already decided

beethoven- sonata op81a les adieux 
chopin-etude 10/1
chopin-ballade 2nd, or brahms 2nd sonata? (still pondering)
bach? (prelude and fugue, but which one)
20th century?

what do you think?  only chopin etude is 100% sure to be audition piece, for others feel free to suggest, just i'm the most interested in 20th century

[g_s_223]

If it was me, I have a few personal favourites in Ravel's collection Miroirs, particularly Une barque sur l'ocean.

[etudes]

very nice repertoire
about Chopin Etude i am quite sure that it works for all music university or conservatory just polish it.
the rest are also fine very good sonata (even very famous and popular) but it show you both technical and musical you have.
the Romantic piece....i love both Chopin 2nd Ballade or Brahms 2nd Sonata
it has positive point and negative of both pieces
the brahms is longer and for me technical thing is harder than the ballade
but the ballade can show you with you musicality at the beginning (phrasing,pedal,tone) because you already have etude and sonata that show your technique ,and in the presto parts are also not easy at all.
about bach...which one you have done from now? i would prefer to do C sharp major from the first book (of course it is very popular), but i would avoid Dmajor,Bbmajor of first book (dont really have a reason just my opinion)
20th music...Ligetti etudes are very nice,Ravel toccata from Le Tombeau,Jeux deau,aborada del graciso(spelling) i am not familar with debussy
or franck his piano works also cool( i know you know that)

overall i think it would be better to mix hard pieces and easy pieces ...not all difficult pieces ,it wouldnt be a good idea for me to do all difficult program.
i hope it helps

[mikey6]

There's HEAPS of 20th century repertiore! Prokofiev sonatas.  Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues.  Bartok ahm....sonata, out of doors, bagatelles.  Messaien any of the Vingt regards.  Scriabin any of the later works.  not my area but Boulez, Stockhausen.  Berg sonata is good. Schoenberg op.11, 19 or 30 something i think.  Debussy preludes, images, etudes.  Ravel pretty much any piano work except the pavane.  Rachmaninoff preludes, etude-tableaux, corelli variations, sonatas (probably no.2)
dat will do for now.

[sharon_f]

I second Messiaen's Vingts Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus. Two of my favorites are
"Noel" and "Regard de l'Esprit de joie."

[etudes]

There's HEAPS of 20th century repertiore! Prokofiev sonatas.  Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues.  Bartok ahm....sonata, out of doors, bagatelles.  Messaien any of the Vingt regards.  Scriabin any of the later works.  not my area but Boulez, Stockhausen.  Berg sonata is good. Schoenberg op.11, 19 or 30 something i think.  Debussy preludes, images, etudes.  Ravel pretty much any piano work except the pavane.  Rachmaninoff preludes, etude-tableaux, corelli variations, sonatas (probably no.2)
dat will do for now.

according to university and conservatoire audition i think they put Rachmaninov as a romantic..

[mikey6]

according to university and conservatoire audition i think they put Rachmaninov as a romantic..

maybe so but he's still 20th century!
I'm thinking it would depend on how they specify it.  Is it a 18/19/20th century work? or baroque/classical/romantic/modern coz then Rach would obviously better fit in romantics.

[zheer]

beethoven- sonata op81a les adieux 
chopin-etude 10/1
chopin-ballade 2nd, or brahms 2nd sonata? (still pondering)
bach? (prelude and fugue, but which one)
20th century?

  The Beethoven is a great choice, but which MVT will you play at the audition?

  The Chopin etude is also a great idea, but 25/1 can demonstrate Musicality aswell.

  The Chopin 2nd Ballade is more like a graduation piece rather than an audition piece.
  To play Brahms seems more intresting, you could try his ballad in Dminor, or Rhapsodies op.79 num2, or intermezzo in A num2. You dont have to blow them away with fast finger work all the time.

    Does it have to be a prelude and fugue by Bach, if yes then try Bachs Prelude and Fugue from book 1 in Cminor.  If you want to sound like royalty play them Scarlatti sonata K 27 like Michelangeli, uuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmm.

     Finaly if you are going to Russia play them a Rahmaninoff etude. If you are going to France play them a Debussy prelude, basically the place you choose to study, play them something from their own countrys famous composer. If you study at londons royall Accademy play them Elton John, ( only kidding )

   Good luck,

[etudes]

  The Beethoven is a great choice, but which MVT will you play at the audition?


   Good luck,

i think that you need to prepare complete sonata...and they will ask if they want specific movement.

[brahmsian]

I would play the Brahms 2nd, but then again i'm biased 

Bach P&F?
Book 1 No. 9 in E major
Book 1 No. 14 in F# minor

20th century
I second the Messiaen
Rzewski- North American Ballades
Ornstein- Sonata No. 4
Bolcom- The Garden of Eden: The Serpents Kiss [Rag Fantasy]
Kapustin- Variations Op. 41
             -Suite in the Old Style

[paris]

brahmsian, you suggested interesting things for 20th century..i haven't heard for them except kapustin, noone plays them here, is there any available mp3 to listen maybe?

i can't decide between brahms 2nd and chopin 2nd..brahms is way longer, and that 4th movement is bothering me, but its rarely played and beautiful piece, while chopin is soo gorgeus and much shorter. i already have more-less demanding etude, and sonata, i'm wondering would it be too much hard stuffs..but then, i have more then a year to master pieces

for zheer, i'm required to play whole sonata, i don't know which conservatoires you were thinking of, on those which i play to take audition (considering salzburg, hanover, koln, some of new york colleges maybe-not quite sure, and at my home country)
they all require whole sonata, some of them even modern sonata (which means stuff like prokofiev sonata, but in that case i can use brahms sonata as well)
as for brahms ballades and intermezzos...err..they're not appropriate for audition where people come with a lot harder stuff, although they're wonderful pieces as itself.

as for rachmaninov, i wish i could use it as 20th century work, but he's considered to be romantic at audition requirements.
i was thinking about franck prelude,choral and fugue /or prelude, fugue and variations. set with choral is more demanding, and longer, would be set with variations too easy for places like mozarteum for example?

in the end, i saw suggested prokoffiev sonatas, shostakovich preludes...i'm not very eager to take them, don't ask why haha

keep them coming 

[zheer]

for zheer, i'm required to play whole sonata, i don't know which conservatoires you were thinking of, on those which i play to take audition (considering salzburg, hanover, koln, some of new york colleges maybe-not quite sure, and at my home country)

   I vil be honest with you, i know nothing about conservatorys. I have heard about the Moscow conservatory, my brother Vlad horowitz and my uncle Ashkanazy went there, so naturally this the place i would choose to study if i were good enough to be a concert pianist.
The paris conservtory this not a place i would study even if they put a gun to my head and threaten to kill me. The royall Accademy in london has trained the greatest musicians in the world today, and as far as i know they will be blown away with some ov the pieces you have chosen as audition pieces. Finally there is jailyard in america wich has trained the likes ov Van clyburn, and i believe you could ask kolji to put in a good word in for you .
     In all honesty  most students at Uni will play those pieces you have chosen on the day of graduation.
       Anyway it is your life and i is will say no more. The thing about the Brahms Intermezzo being too easy, well purhaps but i remember someone at the Leeds international piano competition play that, and he got to the final round. The Leeds international piano competition is one ov the biggest in the world.

[brahmsian]

C

brahmsian, you suggested interesting things for 20th century..i haven't heard for them except kapustin, noone plays them here, is there any available mp3 to listen maybe?

Check your PM.

[etudes]

brahmsian, you suggested interesting things for 20th century..i haven't heard for them except kapustin, noone plays them here, is there any available mp3 to listen maybe?


keep them coming 

i have some of kapustin etudes,variations,preludes....

[pianowelsh]

YES Mirrors! In fact The Barque is a really good suggestion. The only problem i might have with the programme then would be its all a bit notey. The oiseaux Triste may work better for you.  A panel will be really impressed if you can counjure up a really beautifull tone and stillness at the opening (in an exam room) and there is some scope for virtusoity in it without retracing the Ballade2/Brahms and op10/1.  Its better if you can give them variety and show them you can 'perform' and draw an audience in.  At audition they look for this more than technique although that is certainly very high on their agenda.
Id be inclined to go for the Bb prelude and fugue from bk1 (likely and tocatta like) not so hard to learn but will show your control of fingers and lightness/elegence. Les Adieux is more profound and the etude is brilliant in character. The ballade is simple in character but has turbulent outpourings so this prog would show everything except perhaps total barbarism But then i wouldnt be surprised whether the school you apply to asks for a work of 20th C for 1st/2nd year recital element so you could mop up at a later date??!

[superstition2]

How about Myaskovsky's 3rd sonata? It's brilliant and not terribly long.