Competition repertoire

[pianisten1989]

I'll begin my first year at a music academy this autumn (Yay, gratz to me!), and I thought it'd be good if I started finding competitions in time for my second year.
So I did a search in the internet, and almost every competition had like 2-3 hours repertoire.
I knoooow, I'll ask my teacher, but it would be better if I had some own suggestions on pieces.

So this is what I've got:

Bach: P&F D-minor, E-flat major WTK II, Partita Bb major. - A bit more than 15 minutes
Mozart: Rondo A-minor, *sonata f-major kv 332 - Aprox. 25
Hayd: Sonata E-major no 46 - Bit less than 10 min
Beethoven: Sonatas: Waldstein, op 101. Aprox 50 min?
Chopin: Etudes: 10 no 4, *8, *12. 25 no 1, 7. Maybe 20 min?
                        *Scherzo no 2. Maybe 10min? *Fantasy: 14 min?
Schumann: Symphonic etudes 30 min (like 20 without repeats)
Liszt: Mephisto waltz 12 min
Debussy: L'isle joyeuse 8 min

Concerto: Beethoven no 3

*=Played for quite some years ago, or haven't learned yet.

So it's probably enough.. But it's kind of.. I mean, the most modern is Debussy...
And I have enough time mostly because of I've got quite much from only a few composers.

To you who've participated in competitions:
I need a broader repertoire, right? Any suggestions?

All the best.

[pianisten1989]

So none has got any advice?

[prongated]

What sort of competition are you looking at? Nationals or International? And remind me where you are from and where you are studying again?

You repertoire list is looking pretty good. And you are right, it looks like you can use a little boost in the 20th/21st century music department. If you can play those pieces well, I'd recommend you start looking at the Dutilleux sonata. And another smaller work will also be great. Something like Carl Vine's 5 Bagatelles in length. Perhaps one of Messiaen's Ile de Feu.

[pianisten1989]

I'm looking at international competitions.. well, and national. Mostly several rounds-competitions, which most of the time demands some hours repertoire.
I'm from Sweden, and will start studying in Århus, denmark, this autumn. So I don't really want to do any competitions this year.

Thx for the advice. The Dutilleux sonata sounds pretty cool, so I'll probably go for that one

[prongated]

Oh OK, I would also look to expand the concerto repertoire too...namely at least 1 Mozart and 1 bigger romantic concerto (i.e. Brahms, Tchaikovsky, or Rachmaninov). And afterwards, eventually you may want to learn something else by Chopin - probably a Ballade or Polonaise.

[ramseytheii]

So it's probably enough.. But it's kind of..

That's an intriguing ellipsis.  Do tell!

Walter Ramsey

[point of grace]

that needs some Brahms (op.79) and a Rachmaninoff tableaux etude... also a 20th century piece of music, take a look to Ginastera!
good luck

[pianisten1989]

That's an intriguing ellipsis.  Do tell!
Walter Ramsey

if you'd kept reading, you'd see what I meant.

And why just op 79, and etude tableaux? Is there a deep idea behind that, or because you're playing it atm?

[prongated]

I would sort of concur too actually...probably not necessarily op. 79 or Brahms, but another Romantic work would be nice (hence my suggestion of a Chopin Ballade). And another Etude not by Chopin would be great, since some competitions are starting to ask for more than 1 etude - I've seen an international competition asking for 2 by Chopin and another 1 by Rachmaninov or Liszt.

[pianisten1989]

Yes, those sorts of competitions are comming up. So after may,I'll start with the paganini etudes.
Hmm, I think I'll go with something else than the ballades. It'snot that I don't like them.. But I've already got the Fantasy and the Scherzo. I think it would be wiser to go for Rachmaninov or Brahms, since I've got so muh chopin already, and nothing by wither Brahms och Rachmaninov

[point of grace]

of course, op.79 was just a suggestion, and yes, i play it and i thought i would fit good in your programe... what about Brahms piano sonata 2? the first ballade for piano?
and as i also think you play too much chopin, and it would be good to play another etude i said Rachmaninoff...
if not you could play less chopin etudes and his op.22 do you like it?

[pianisten1989]

Yes, and I appreciate your suggestions, but why op 79? I don't know them very well, so plzz tell me what they'd add to my program.

I love op 22, you don't think that's too difficult? I just started learning the fantasy, and have practised for mostly 10 hours. Maybe switch them?

[liordavid]

here is a good program in my opinion. These works will really please the judjes.

Beethoven: opus 111 sonata, diabelli variations.
Brahms: Paganini variations books one and two
Chopin: First sonata
Liszt: Hungarian rhapsody number 9 and 10, Don Juan fantasy
Schubert: Wanderer fantasy
prokofiev: first sonata. 

this sounds like a good enough program

[dtao12]

As others have said, it will help to augment with more 20th century repertoire.  How about
- Prokofiev -- piano sonatas 2, 3 (light, sardonic) or 7 (earthshattering)
- Gershwin -- Rhapsody in Blue (solo version)
- Ravel -- Tombeau de Couperin or Miroirs
- Shostakovich -- Preludes and Fugues (quite a range of possibilities)
- Barber -- Excursions (jazzy and fun)

Any of the above could give you 10-20 minutes of repertoire with varying degrees of difficulty (I assume that if you can play Mephisto Waltz you can play those). I'm not tremendously broad on 20th century either, but I really like the above, some of which I've played.

For Brahms, I love the later works like Op. 116-119, especially the glorious Rhapsody in Eb, op 119#4 (powerful), or the beautiful and emotional Intermezzo op 118#2.

Your Chopin Fantasie is a great choice, one of his greatest masterpeices. It's about 12 minutes.

You could beef up the Liszt list too -- so many choices there. Perhaps a crowd pleasing Hungarian Rhapsody like #6 or 12 (#2 may be too much of a "warhorse"); or an operatic fantasy like Rigoletto; or one of the late pieces like Funerailles from Harmonies Poetiques et Religieuses.

For concerti, some are suggesting great pieces, but it may be too big a leap to go from Beethoven 3rd to either of the Brahms, or to Rachmaninoff! How about something challenging but not quite so "deep end of the pool" like
- Mendelssohn #1 or Capriccio Brilliante
- Weber Konzertstuck (both would add a new composer to your list)
- Schumann A minor
- Grieg A minor
- St. Saens #3 in G minor

[ramseytheii]

I'll begin my first year at a music academy this autumn (Yay, gratz to me!), and I thought it'd be good if I started finding competitions in time for my second year.
So I did a search in the internet, and almost every competition had like 2-3 hours repertoire.
I knoooow, I'll ask my teacher, but it would be better if I had some own suggestions on pieces.

So this is what I've got:

Bach: P&F D-minor, E-flat major WTK II, Partita Bb major. - A bit more than 15 minutes
Mozart: Rondo A-minor, *sonata f-major kv 332 - Aprox. 25
Hayd: Sonata E-major no 46 - Bit less than 10 min
Beethoven: Sonatas: Waldstein, op 101. Aprox 50 min?
Chopin: Etudes: 10 no 4, *8, *12. 25 no 1, 7. Maybe 20 min?
                        *Scherzo no 2. Maybe 10min? *Fantasy: 14 min?
Schumann: Symphonic etudes 30 min (like 20 without repeats)
Liszt: Mephisto waltz 12 min
Debussy: L'isle joyeuse 8 min

Concerto: Beethoven no 3

*=Played for quite some years ago, or haven't learned yet.

So it's probably enough.. But it's kind of.. I mean, the most modern is Debussy...
And I have enough time mostly because of I've got quite much from only a few composers.

To you who've participated in competitions:
I need a broader repertoire, right? Any suggestions?

I only want to respond to this very unobjectionable list, because you provide such an intriguing moment of doubt at the end of your post.

Ultimately a pianist's repertoire has to define him in some way.  People want to hear a musician because of their individual qualities; but those individual qualities are often tied up in either very specific kinds of music or very over-arching philosophies.  So it works both ways.

All the pieces on your list are excellent pieces (although I'm not personally partial to Chopin's second scherzo).  They certainly show a range of techniques, less so a range of style - if you take a true bird's eye view - and a range of possibilities for you to show this and that.  But I truly believe that you, and pianists everywhere, should ask: what does it show about me personally?  What does it show I can accomplish, that is different, that audiences (or judges) can invest in?

I think pianists in general need to push themselves much further, and strive to be distinguished in all ways.  Even the visual element of repertoire, that is, looking at a dry list, is important.  If a pianist plays all 32 Beethoven sonatas, that is on a basic level impressive and admirable.  But is it enough to draw attention?  Haven't dozens of pianists done that?  It's been proven time and time again that it can be done.

When I look at this program, I think you must be a fine pianist.  You obviously have good taste in music.  But to be totally honest, it looks like it could have been put together the same way 20 years ago, 40 years ago, 60 years ago, 80 years ago.  Entering a competition, I believe one should ask themselves: how can I distinguish myself from the others?  What can I do, that they cannot? 

Walter Ramsey

[pianisten1989]

So I found this competition in Sweden.
They want a classical sonata, 2 etudes from 2 composers and another work from 1700-1760.
Next round is a piano concerto.
Third round is a maximum 40 minutes program with works written after 1810, and one swedish piece written after 1930.

So this is my idea:
Beethoven op 101, Chopin etude op 10/4 and one of the Paganini etudes, and Mozart rondo in A minor.

As a piano concerto I'll go for Liszt A major.

Then I'll play:
Chopin: Mazurkas op 6 and the Fantasy*
Liszt: Mephisto waltz*
Olallo Morales: 2 fantasies for piano (my great grand father, and very seldom played... especially in sweden)
de Frumerie: Sonata no 2

* I don't think there is time for both, so I'll pick the piece I play the best.
Any thoughts?

[prongated]

Looks reasonable...although I wonder if the Mozart rondo is really written before 1760...I mean, that means Mozart wrote it before he turned 5 right?? [I think they wanted a late baroque piece by Bach, JS or CPE, or perhaps even Scarlatti or, heck, Couperin?]

When I look at this program, I think you must be a fine pianist.  You obviously have good taste in music.  But to be totally honest, it looks like it could have been put together the same way 20 years ago, 40 years ago, 60 years ago, 80 years ago.  Entering a competition, I believe one should ask themselves: how can I distinguish myself from the others?  What can I do, that they cannot? 

Too true.

[pianisten1989]

ah, what the hell?! >.< Thx though... Feels good that I only made a foolk out of myself on the internet, instead on the music academy...