dipabrsm - program advice needed

[pianist94]

Hello.
I did my grade 8 piano recently and just before the summer, I discussed the idea of doing the performance diploma with my teacher. The thing is, despite being a very good teacher, he's never prepared anyone for a dipabrsm and I thought it would be a good idea to ask people who have done it and who have the experience of perhaps teaching it for some advice on the program.
Together, my teacher and I decided the pieces that would be in the program but apparently I've been told that you need to put in a lot of thought and some research before finalising it whereas we did it within half an hour :/ besides, he chose a 15 min long sonata that is not in the repertoire list and since you cannot play more than 7 minutes' of music which is not in the suggested repertoire list, that sonata is out of the question.

So far my programme consists of:
1) Gershwin 'The man I love' and 'I got rhythm'
2) Listz 'Un sospiro' (which is NOT in the suggested repertoire and is hopefully going to be around 6 min so i cannot play anything else that is not in the list)

I hope they are ok for the program because no. 1) is sort of 70% there and the liszt is well on the way (already put in lots of hours into it and it would be a shame to drop it now). Do you think the liszt is of diploma level?? (please say yes. :S)

For now, i'm only considering a 3rd work and depending on the length of this work, I may be able to add in a 4th one. As I have covered the romantic and modern (jazz) styles with these pieces, I would like to play a piece from the Classical period, a bit more technical (though don’t get me wrong, the liszt is fairly challenging on its own already) and contrasting with both of the other pieces. I would personally like to do a Mozart Sonata because I know I’ll probably enjoy it more than a Bach toccata – however, the only reason I don’t seem to like Baroque pieces so much is because I do not have much experience (I’ve done a prelude and fugue in the past and did not like it very much..). But if you can persuade me that it would be better to do a Baroque piece and suggest some works i might enjoy, that’d be great too.

For now, with a Classical work in mind, I would really appreciate it if anyone could suggest one (or more) works from this list which they think would work well in my program (all by MOZART)
Adagio in B minor, K.540. Mozart Mature Piano Pieces (ABRSM Publishing)
Sonata in D, K.284: complete (ABRSM Publishing)
Sonata in C, K.309: complete (ABRSM Publishing)
Sonata in D, K.311: complete (ABRSM Publishing)
Sonata in Bb, K.570: complete (ABRSM Publishing)
10 Variations on ‘Les hommes pieusement’ (‘Unser dummer Pöbel meint’), K.455 (ABRSM Publishing)
9 Variations on a Minuet by Duport, K.573 (ABRSM Publishing)

If you think a Haydn or Scarlatti or anything really might be something I could consider, the full repertoire list can be found on this link (pages 36-7): https://www.abrsm.org/resources/performanceRepertoire.pdf

In general, all I want is a 3rd piece that would fit in the generalistic program towards which I’m working, that shows my technical abilities, that sounds nice in a recital and is enjoyable for me too

Thank you in advance!

[kelly_kelly]

I attempted the DipABRSM in May and failed narrowly (2 points...  ), so perhaps I'm not the most qualified to give advice, but my teacher has prepared loads of students for DipABRSM and LRSM so I'll take a shot anyway.

Firstly, I think the customary program consists of one sonata and three smaller pieces. I'm not sure if this is what the examiners like to hear or whether it's just what everyone does, but you may want to consider it. For example, for my retake I'm playing Schubert D. 664, Liszt Sonetto 123, Debussy Ballade (own choice), and Bartok Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm Nos. 3, 5, and 6. In May I played a Bach prelude and fugue instead of the Bartok, but I really didn't like the piece so my teacher suggested adding the Bartok to give my program something more percussive and exciting. I was initially worried that this would take away from the generalist nature of my program, but considering my teacher's level of experience with ABRSM I trust her. So you may want to consider that in addition to a classical sonata, a 4th work wouldn't have to necessarily be baroque. Something Impressionist, like Debussy, or Russian 20th century, like Prokofiev or Shostakovich (to give a few examples) would contrast enough with the Gershwin. But if you do stick with baroque, why not try Scarlatti? (if you're not too fond of Bach) The sonatas are nice short pieces that may fit in with your program depending on what sonata you choose.

As for your sonata, of the ones you've listed I think K. 284 is the most technically challenging. I would even put it among the most difficult sonatas on the syllabus. It's also one of my favorite sonatas by Mozart. I would recommend giving it a shot, since you have enough technique for Un Sospiro. Speaking of which, Un Sospiro is acceptable for the LRSM level, so it shouldn't be a problem as a own-choice for DipABRSM. They don't mind if you exceed the difficulty of the syllabus - I know someone who played Chopin's 4th Ballade for DipABRSM, so...

This is probably a longer response than you wanted, but I hope some of it is useful. Good luck!