Audition repertoire, question about Prokofiev & Czerny

[chopin1993]

Hi everyone,

Best wishes for you all!

I´m doing audition for the conservatory in May/June this year.
I already studied most of the pieces.
The pieces I´ll be playing are:
- Bach; Sinfonia no. 12
- Mozart; Sonata k.332 (no.12)
- Grieg; second movement from his sonata
- Prokofiev; Prelude op. 12 no. 7
- 2 Czerny etudes

Now, I have 2 questions.

1. I need 2 Czerny etudes in different tempos and different techniques. Which etudes do you recommend? It can be etudes from other composers like Moszkowski or Cramer-Bülow.

2. I´m having a hard time with Prokofievs Prelude op. 12 no. 7.  Can you give me any advice on this piece? I realize that this is a question with many answers, but at the time I can use any advice, as I just started studying this piece.

Thanks!

Valerie

[pytheamateur]

What does your teacher say about this?

As for Czerny, they probably want something from The Book of Finger Dexterity, Op 730 (or Op 740, I can't remember).  His studies are so biased towards the right hand that in order to pick something of sufficient contrast, I think you will need to pick one dealing with the left hand.

[chopin1993]

They are asking for Czernys op. 299 and/or op. 740 indeed.

It´s still christmas holiday now and my teacher is in an other country. I made this topic because I couldn´t wait starting to study Prokofiev and I want to get some ideas of which Etudes you would play if it were you who was doing the audition.

Thanks!

Valerie

[jgallag]

It's hard to say about the Prokofiev online. I'd guess you're probably stretching your right hand, and you need to practice it slowly and really feel each rotation with your arm as relaxed as possible. But that's a very rough guess. You haven't given us much to go on as far as what the problem is.

Where are you applying, and for what degree? It seems bizarre to me that you're required to play Czerny. I never touched him, and I'm almost done with my Bachelor's.

[chopin1993]

Thanks for your reply!

I´ll be applying in Arnhem, The Netherlands for Bachelor.

Pieces everyone is required to play in The Netherlands;
- A classical sonata by Mozart, Beethoven or Haydn
- 2 etudes by Czerny, Cramer-Bülow, Moszkowski, Moscheles or Clementi´s Gradus ad Parnassum
- a polyphonic piece by Bach (Sinfonias, WTC, parts of his Suites or Partitas)
- 2 pieces you can choose yourself

About Prokofiev, I can´t seem to relax my arm when practicing this piece. I´m forcing way too much and I´m aware of it. Maybe it´s a good idea to keep praticing slowly untill my teacher is back again, otherwise I´ll hurt myself by playing in a wrong way.

Where do you study and what kind of pieces did you play with your audition if I may ask?

Valerie

[jgallag]

I study at Ithaca College and my Bachelor's audition rep (for Music Education) was Bach's Prelude and Fugue in C minor from Book I of the WTC, Movement I of Beethoven's Pathetique, and Debussy's Reflets Dans L'Eau. The difference between that and what's required for a performance degree is that you'd need the whole sonata and an additional substantial romantic work for performance. I only asked because I have yet to see a school ask for a Czerny etude (or similar), living in the US. High level performance degrees do ask for a concert etude, such as Chopin's, but those are of a caliber high above Czerny's and are suitable for the concert hall as actual music. I do think that the Moskowski (Op. 91, is it?) are neat, but I wouldn't play one for an audition or in public.

My advice with the Prokofiev: don't practice it period if you think you need to wait for your teacher's help. Slow practice is even worse, much worse, actually, when you have tension issues, because when you practice slow a lot of incorrect movements for fast playing are possible. So you'll likely be repeating over and over again movements that will hinder and hurt you if you try to use them at speed. My guess would be that you need to coordinate the rotation of your arm with the rise and fall of your fingers and figure out the rise and fall of your wrist for comfort throughout the passage, but check with your teacher first.