I know you all love these audition threads!!!

[tanman]

Planning on auditioning to some undergraduate colleges/conservatories in the US in about 2 years time. Most of them require a Bach, a classical sonata, a substantial romantic work, a modern piece, and an etude. Please comment! Especially for the 20th century one!

Bach p/f book 1 no. 17 in Ab (I'm pretty confident with this one)
Classical Sonata: either Beethoven sonata op. 31 no. 2 (tempest) or Mozart sonata K332. I'm leaning more towards the Beethoven on this one...
Romantic: Chopin Rondo op. 16 (almost done with it)
Etude: Scriabin op. 8 no. 12 (learned a year ago but needs polishing)
Modern: not sure... unless Ravel counts so then I can play Miroirs (I'm halfway done learning it). I'm looking at Ginastera Sonata 1 and Liebermann Gargoyles just in case... suggestions please! 

I have quite a bit of time so if you want to recommend some other pieces, difficulty and length doesn't matter a whole lot...





and please don't recommend something that's been played a million times before the jury. 

[quantum]

The Tempest is somewhat in vogue now.  Attended competition where one class was any of the 32 Beethoven sonatas.  Probably heard it 8 times in a row. 

If you play it well, then I'd say play it.  Doesn't hurt to prepare another sonata though.   Then you will have more options down the road. 

Have you tried one of the other Scriabin etudes? 

[tanman]

The Tempest is somewhat in vogue now.  Attended competition where one class was any of the 32 Beethoven sonatas.  Probably heard it 8 times in a row.  

 
wow... I didn't know it was played that often! hmmm... then perhaps I'll prepare another not as played Beethoven sonata... but then again I have been playing it for about a year now and can probably perfect it in 2 years time...

Have you tried one of the other Scriabin etudes?  

nope. but I have plenty of time to learn another one if the situation calls for it. I was also considering some Debussy etudes because they hardly get played, and they don't seem terribly hard... and I LOVE Debussy!

[go12_3]

tanman:  If you love Debussy, how about the Toccata? 

best wishes,

go12_3

[nanabush]

Liebermann is a good choice.

The Ravel that you have is good too.

How long does each component have to be?  I saw Debussy's Toccata, but maybe the entire suite wouldn't be so bad.

For an etude, Rachmaninoff's Op 39 has some very interesting stuff.  Pretty much all of them demand quite a level of musicality and have for the mostpart require some very good technique.  I played #6 from there for a competition recently, and the judge had quite a bit to say about it (good and bad ); there's so much you can do with these pieces, and so much you can convey with a convicing performance.

[tanman]

How long does each component have to be?

not really any time limitations... but if I am crazy enough to audition at Curtis then I need something that is more than 10 minutes and that will most likely be Miroirs

and If I do plan on auditioning at Curtis then I need a Chopin piece to contrast the Rondo. Any ideas?

For an etude, Rachmaninoff's Op 39 has some very interesting stuff.  Pretty much all of them demand quite a level of musicality and have for the mostpart require some very good technique.  I played #6 from there for a competition recently, and the judge had quite a bit to say about it (good and bad ); there's so much you can do with these pieces, and so much you can convey with a convicing performance.

hmm... I'll look into these...

[nanabush]

Damn, I was really tired when I posted that last night, sorry if it doesn't much sense


There are some obvious virtuosic etudes in there (#1, 3, 6, 9), each requiring a mad amount of stamina.

#2 and #7 are considerably 'slower' etudes, although #7 builds up throughout the piece into a huge climax.

#5 and #6 are the ones I hear most people play, but both are excellent.

#4 is the one I've heard the least, but it's still an awesome etude.

#8 I started learning, but switched for #6.  The double notes really bogged me down at about halfway through #8; they don't let up, and there's one bit that really just didn't fit my hands at all haha.

[neardn]

Excellent choices


the tempest sonata however might not be so impressive as said (some of the early sonatas win favor easily, usually, if you're interested in learning another)
but it really depends how well you play it

the judges aren't going to look badly upon pieces that are "overplayed", but bad performances of those pieces

[tanman]

Maybe I'll play the Mozart instead of the Beethoven then...

[lontano]

Stravinsky seems fairly rarely suggested around here. He didn't write a large amount of solo piano music but much of it is interesting and worth considering. The 4 Etudes, op.7 are very effective. The Sonata  and Serenade in A (both from 1924). But even if you have the chops to pull off "3 Movements from Petrushka", I believe it is of late overplayed.

Just my 2 cents.

[tanman]

"3 Movements from Petrushka"

 
I'd probably NEVER be able to play it decently well

The 4 Etudes, op.7 are very effective. The Sonata  and Serenade in A (both from 1924).

hmm... I think I'll look into these...

What about Vine Sonata 1? I'm DYING to play it but it sounds incredibly hard