First year uni repertoire

[toby1]

What is it in a classical piano program?

Are chopin etudes likely? Does it depend on the student or a certain pieces representative of the standard?

Would Kapustin ever be on the table (for me prob final year performance)?

Ie

[awesom_o]

I think it depends on the student, the teacher, and the school!

Chopin Etudes and Mozart Sonatas are likely, however, provided that you are accomplished enough to handle them!

[toby1]

I might be able to work up to some of the etudes.

I auditioned with the first movement of mozart k331 in A major and Prelude no 1 by gershwin although at about 3/4 speed for the prelude.

[awesom_o]

I'm guessing we're talking uni here, and not conservatory?

[toby1]

bachelors of music in classical performance on piano, starting in march at local university.

Mozart sonatas sounds doable from the ones I've listened to so far. I was mainly curious as to what I might be in for. It maybe they stick me with technical work for 6 months

[awesom_o]

Remember what they say about Mozart..... easy for amateurs and extremely difficult for professionals!

Unlikely you'll have to do 6 months of technical work. Most professors don't teach much about actual technique... instead they coach you on musical interpretation.

That's why it's best to wait until you actually have a monster technique before going to study piano performance!

The better you are when you go in, the more you will benefit from professional artistic training!

[toby1]

I'll just do my best and hopefully it all works out

[awesom_o]

Hopefully what all works out?

[toby1]

Meeting and rising above that standard of musicality and skill

[quantum]

Depends on the teacher and student.  Personally, I chose nearly all my solo repertoire throughout uni.  There was a lot of repertoire discussion and suggestions between my teachers and me, but they always left me with the final decision on what I would be interested in playing. 

It was something like:  I see you like to play ___ piece.  Go check out A, B, and C composers.  You may also want to listen to X, Y, and Z pieces. 

My advice would be to come prepared with a proposal list of repertoire for the year.  You can then discuss the list with your teacher.  It will give your teacher an idea of what you are interested in. 

[stevenarmstrong]

Hey Toby

For example, my first year included Chopin Op. 10 No. 1; Mendelssohn Prelude & Fugue in F minor; op. 35; Mozart  K.330 1st & 3rd mvts; Debussy Prelude Bk I No. 4 (I think); Rachmaninoff Prelude Op. 23 No. 6. It depends on the teacher, you and the institute. My undergrad had specific requirements...first year had to include a Debussy Prelude, Chopin Etude and a Prelude & Fugue; second year a Debussy etude, Beethoven sonata mvt, and a concerto mvt; third year a Chopin double-note etude; fourth year a Liszt or Rachmaninoff etude & a complete sonata.
Where I studied, the choices varied according to the student's capabilities, so it was quite flexible (except for the categories). But those who aren't really ready for it drop out after 2nd year from the major to the minor (have to have a certain average to continue).

Hope that gives you some idea??

[toby1]

Lots of good stuff there, thanks for the advice so far.

I auditioned with Gershwin prelude no 1 (at about 70bp% speed),  first movement from Mozart k331 (they asked for excerpts though I prepared all of it) and the Fugue from Handel's F minor suite as seen here:

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(not me playing)

I was accepted, even though I did my sight reading test at a bare crawl speed because I wanted to focus on note accuracy. Like 30bpm-ish speed maybe for crotchets (if that fast) for a short piece that was all accidentals. From what I gather from contacting another pianostreet member that's not a particularly high standard compared to audition pieces they used for a european conservatorium. I applied in Australia at a small university.

From there? I'd like to be doing things like the Chopin 10 -1 and 25-11, Aufschwung by Schumann, Sunken Cathedral by Debussy, Jeux D'eau  by Ravel, Tarantella from Liszt's years of pilgrimage, Couperin's mysterious barricade, maybe have a crack at some of the Bach 48 and if they let me touch on jazz idiom stuff then Rhapsody in Blue and some of Kasputin's concert etudes or his impromptu 66 - 2.

I'd let them pick anything that would get me moving in that kind of direction. I have 2 weeks to enrolment and a month before classes start. I'll hit up youtube to listen to some of the sonatas/composers you mentioned more clearly.

Cheers

[stevenarmstrong]

Man, Liszt's Tarantella...that's ambitious. Kapustin etudes aren't easy either. But hey, depends on where you're at.

[toby1]

Maybe do the tarantella after I graduate, the kapustin impromptu could become a 3rd year thing?

Not sure. Decided to listen through to some sonatas on youtube to give me an idea of composers I like. When I mentioned I wanted to one day play liszt's tarantella the audition convener had a pretty dramatic reaction. I was mainly happy just to get in.