My friend needs help

[soliloquy]

Hi.  I have a friend who is currently attending school and wishes to change his major to piano performance.  The repertoire he needs to audition is:

A full work or movement of a Classical or Baroque Era piece
A full work or movement of a Romantic Era piece
A full work or movement of a piece written in the 20th century

25 minute time limit


I don't really know a TON about where he is at as far as his technical prowess is concerned, but I know he is managing his way (slowly) through the Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G Minor Op. 23.  What do you think would be something impressive but not overwhelming to him?  I'm sure he will be using the Chopin Ballade as his Romantic work, so there's 8-10 minutes down, so what Baroque and 20th/21st century pieces do you think he should be working on?  It's a state college, so he doesn't need to go in there with Scarlatti and Finnissy.  I gave him the sheets to Rzewski's North American Ballade No. 4 and he said the ostinatos were giving him too much trouble, so something under that, but preferably above the overly-present Cat and Mouse.

[kelly_kelly]

How about some Griffes? I'm pretty sure at least some of it will be manageable technically. I particularly like the Fantasy pieces op. 6.

[imbetter]

Hi.  I have a friend who is currently attending school and wishes to change his major to piano performance.  The repertoire he needs to audition is:

A full work or movement of a Classical or Baroque Era piece
A full work or movement of a Romantic Era piece
A full work or movement of a piece written in the 20th century

25 minute time limit


I don't really know a TON about where he is at as far as his technical prowess is concerned, but I know he is managing his way (slowly) through the Chopin Ballade No. 1 in G Minor Op. 23.  What do you think would be something impressive but not overwhelming to him?  I'm sure he will be using the Chopin Ballade as his Romantic work, so there's 8-10 minutes down, so what Baroque and 20th/21st century pieces do you think he should be working on?  It's a state college, so he doesn't need to go in there with Scarlatti and Finnissy.  I gave him the sheets to Rzewski's North American Ballade No. 4 and he said the ostinatos were giving him too much trouble, so something under that, but preferably above the overly-present Cat and Mouse.

Ok lets get to work, he should play the chopin ballade as about 9 minutes. I'd suggest either  Bach or a Scarlatti sonata. Preferably Scarlatti sonata. That's about 14 minutes as an estimate. As a 20th century piece I'd suggest Debussy or Bartok. I hope this helps

[cmg]

How about:

Bach first movt "Italian Concerto"
Ginastera "Three Argenrtine Dances"

If he can handle the Chopin Gm Ballade, this other stuff will work for him.

[desordre]

 Dear Soliloquy:
 I think your friend needs some mainstream repertory, doesn't s/he? So, the obvious would be:
 Baroque: Bach;
 Classical: Mozart or Beethoven earlier works;
 20th century: Debussy, Bartok, Schoenberg, Prokofiev, Ravel...OK, there are hundreds of possibilities here. Just take care of one thing: some works by these masters were actually written in the 19th century (the Suite Bergamasque, for instance, is from 1890).

 Although Scarlatti usually fits, I dislike the fact that is largely considered a Baroque composer, because he's not: a great part of his output is Pre-Classical. So, a bit of discretion when choosing a work by him is very welcome.
 Best!