Piano Forum

Hey Desordre, no worries with all the questions.  I'll try to answer them, but let me know if you have more.

Don't worry, I'm listening to my teacher.  Actually, I had suggested a nocturne in the first place, but she thought it would be better to do something more interesting, and suggested perhaps Scherzo no. 2 and told me she'ld take a look at the score to see if I could handle it, but to keep looking in the mean time until I found something that really "grabbed" me.  So the next week I came back with Scherzo no. 3.  She listened to it and said to "leave it with her."  And then she started bringing up the nocturne again so I thought maybe she was thinking we should still go with that afterall.  Then we did my lesson and when I turned to go she said, "Aren't you going to take the Chopin Scherzo music with you?"  To which I replied that I thought she wanted to think about it more first.  And then she told me to "give it a go."  So that's why I said she was hesitant, but it was her call in the end.

Yes, the thought of losing a chance at distinction due to harder repertoire had crossed my mind, but I figured that my teacher probably knew what she was doing, and if I HAD to take an extra half year or so, I COULD do it, and it would probably be worth it in the long run.   I was thinking that I'm going to get hit with some pretty hefty pieces in university and it would be good to have a couple under my belt already to help prepare me.   What do you think?   

You're very right about the Liszt.  It will be my other "challenge."  I mentioned to my teacher that it was a hard yesterday, but she told me that she thinks I can do it.   The Rachmaninoff I'm not finding that difficult, but of course, I'm only at half speed since I'm still memorizing the notes, so we'll see.

No, it's not my first WTC, I did the p/f in c minor from book one for my grade 9 exam, but for my grade 10, I did a few movements (including the fugue), from his Cappricio on the Absence of a Most Beloved Brother.  So it's my second p/f, but my 3rd fugue. 

If it helps, the specifics of my current pieces are:

Bach p/f in f# minor, book 2 WTC.  (teacher's suggestion)

Schubert sonata in A +, D 664  (my idea, but she liked it and since I have big hands said I can do it)

Chopin (my teacher wants me to do one by him because I haven't yet), hopefully scherzo
no. 3 

Rachmaninoff prelude in g minor, op. 23, no. 5 (alla marcia)  (my idea, but she said it's a fun piece and I can handle it)

Bartok Roumanian Dance op. 8a, no. 1 (her suggestion)

Liszt Un Sospiro  (my idea and she said she thinks I can do it - suggested Chopin's "harp" etude as another possibility, but let me choose). 

It is a bit 19th century "ish," but we were counting on the Bartok to shake up the Romantic mood a bit.  They give 6 categories that you have to pick from.  The first is Bach, the second is a Classical sonata (they put Schubert in there, so I guess they were thinking "Viennese School"), the third is Romantic, the fourth is early 20th century, the fifth is late 20th century, and the last is a romantic or 20th century etude.  They have which composers go into which category, too.  The only thing I could have really done is picked a Mozart/Haydn/Beethoven sonata, but then why did they put Grieg and Schubert in there?  Somebody had to pick it .  So yeah, if I didn't do something by Chopin, it would still have to be by one of his contemporaries for that section of the exam, and my teacher wants me to at least have played something by him before going off to university.  I could have maybe switch out the Rachmaninoff for some Debussy, but since it's almost memorized now, I'd rather just stick with it.

To answer your other question, I was hoping to be done this August 2007, but of course, I can always hit the January 2008 session if I don't make it, but it would be nice to be done as soon as possible, so I can start auditioning for universities.   June 2007 I ruled out due to the fact that even if they're learned by then, I want them to be really good for the exam.  But those are the 3 exam sessions that come every year. 

I think that covers everything.  Since you're a teacher too, I welcome your thoughts.