using parts of pieces for auditions

[liszmaninopin]

If one is doing an audition or competition, or in any way performing for judges, do you think that they would look poorly upon somebody who played a section of a longer work?  What I mean is-there is a piano piece that I really like, and could play some sections out of it, but the whole thing is almost 3 hours long, so I wouldn't want to take up that much time.

Actually, just in general, do you think that only playing a section of a piece (but a logical one) is a bad thing?

[thierry13]

Well, i think you could edit an "arrangement" of yours and say that it's your arrangement of the piece,and then play it. What piece is it??

[thierry13]

By the way, if you must present a score, i don't think this is possible. But, if you can edit it, then you're ok  

[liszmaninopin]

I don't think an arrangement would work in this case, lol-I don't really know how to condense 3 hours into 10 minutes.

The piece is Violette's Seventh Sonata-if you're familiar with the work, the sections that I think might be suitable on their own are "Dance," "The Song Revisited in 20 panels," and "Colorfield II."

[thierry13]

Well, when i talk of an arrangement, i talk about maybe only transcribing the parts you want to play, and link them, and call it a "shorter arrangement".

[liszmaninopin]

that's an interesting idea-but I would probably find it easier to pick a shorter piece.  I'd really like to perform the work sometime, but it's so long-I don't know how I'd go about learning a 3 hour piece.

[thierry13]

Well, it's like learning a lot of shorter pieces, the blocage is psychological!! I mean, if you're able to memorize 10 other completely different shorter pieces, you're able to do this one ( with more time).

[liszmaninopin]

true, you do have a point...

What's the longest piece you've ever worked on?  

[thierry13]

I'm currently working on liszt's sonata. Since it's 36 pages, i think it's my longer. But this piece is hard, so it will take a while to learn. This year, i'm supposed to begin tchaikovsky's concerto with my teacher, so i think this one will nextly be my longer(3 movements compiled).

[liszmaninopin]

Hey, good luck with the Tchaikovsky!  Just this past year I started my first concerto, and being myself, I started with the Rach 2.  I'm going to play it for the conductor of our local orchestra in a few weeks, and am rather nervous to say the least...

[thierry13]

rach 2 is a great concerto! Good luck for your performance ! And remember this: if you do mistake, just think to horowitz(he made a ton of mistakes and was a GREAT pianist). If you do make mistake, just be calm and do not stress, and laugh at your mistakes, or you will play mechanically and without emotion. My teacher allways say : it's better to make a wrong note with the good musicallity and intention, than a good note without emotion and musicallity!

[Motrax]

Don't ever let length be daunting. Human brains can remember a lot.  I'm learning Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto, and the two-piano reduction is 63 pages long. I'm also learning Rachmaninoff's Cello Sonata, which is 49 pages long. But progress is progress - you won't forget something unless you don't practice it for a while, no matter what the length.

Good luck!  

[liszmaninopin]

thanks for the encouragement!

[super_ardua]

I'm currently working on liszt's sonata. Since it's 36 pages, i think it's my longer.

One of the pieces I have always wanted to learn

[Rach3]

My teacher allways say : it's better to make a wrong note with the good musicallity and intention, than a good note without emotion and musicallity!

I'm trying to remember how I heard this quote applied to Horowitz, I think it was "better to play the wrong notes right than the right notes wrong." Or something like that only less cryptic.

[Rach3]

In response to the topic, I think even in situations where a subsection of the work is allowable, if I knew the work in its entirety I would inevitably feel guilty and be hyperconscious of its incompleteness. It's like with cuts, I absolutely despise seeing or hearing a great piece being butchered to pieces, no matter how humanely. It's like in concerto concerts when they inconsiderately condense the beautiful twelve-page orchestral introduction into a single four-measure fart (Beethoven's first lends itself especially well to this). It's musically incoherent to remove the greater part of the exposition from a sonata movement - it's not subtle at all. Besides the pianist was very studentish, I liked the orchestra better.