chopin octave etude

[Orlando_Gibbons]

I am preparing for a college audition, and the piece I chose for the Romantic period is the octave etude. I would like to hear your opinions about this selection, and I'm open to any suggestions for the remaining three periods.(classical, ect.) The prospective college is just a notch below the Curtis, Royal College, ect.

thanks in advance,

Orlando Gibbons

[james_neher]

I see no public replies to this message, so I'll take a stab. The octave etude is a goldmine of possibilities for pedal effects.  Experiment and listen hard, and you can differentiate yourself from the competition. Similarly, try Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin for music that is not heard every day, deceptively simple, but full of expressive possibilities.  The opening movement sounds great done "chaste" and Lipatti-like, not drilled out as we sometimes hear.  If you need to cover 3 historical periods instead of 4, you can leave out classical and the Ravel will cover for it.

[jmanpno]

Sorry to have to reinvent the wheel on this one!

As I advised previously, I do not believe that the octave etude is a good piece to play as your romantic selection.  It is, of course, a brilliant etude, but you should chose a piece that shows off more "techniques" (a dangerous phrase indeed on this website).

Do let us know how things have turned out after all of these years!