LTCL Program - Thoughts?

[anastasiah1991]

Hi All,

I have just decided to start preparing for my LTCL piano exam.
I have previously sat my LMusA (which is the Australian equivalent). For that I played
- Bach Prelude and Fugue C# minor
- Beethoven's Tempest Sonata
- Chopin's Nocturne in Db
- Prokofiev Scherzo Op 12 No 10

I don't want to use any of those same songs for the LTCL exam. At the moment I am thinking:
- Mozart Rondo in A minor (~10min)
- Schubert Impromptu B flat major (~10 min)
- Chopin Scherzo No 2 (~9 min)

Firstly, do you think that there are contrasting/balanced enough? I really love the Romantic period (I would play an entire Romantic or Chopin program if I could!)
I really would like to add a Liszt in there but I'm worried the program won't be balanced enough stylistically.
(I'm also trying to avoid a Baroque period).

Any comments on what I have so far and suggestions for other pieces which would fit well would be much appreciated!

Thank you!
Anastasia

[whistlestop]

Hi Anastasia 1991

Do you dislike all Baroque, or have you just had enough of Bach? People seem to like Scarlatti but he doesn't really do it for me.
If you want something a little closer to 20thC you could try Iberia - I'm enjoying learning El Albaicin and I think most of Iberia is on the syllabus. At my last attempt at LTCL I played Ireland's Ragamuffin which was nice and quite short; also 20thC, fun to end with. There's loads more listenable modern repertoire out there but i haven't got round to much of it yet. What about Hough's arrangement of the Carousel Waltz or the piano arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue? (Too scary for me!)
It all boils down to timing, of course. Establish your favourite and work around that. Good for you doing a fresh programme; some would just slog away at the same things.

[anastasiah1991]

Thanks for your reply and suggestions!
The Iberia sounds good. I've also been looking at Goyesca (No. 4 in particular).
That's certainly what I'm after - more listenable modern music. I'm really not a fan of the heavily dissonant or atonal modern repertoire. The Ragamuffin is great in that sense! I'm also quite liking Dohnanyi's Rhapsody No3.
The Rhapsody in Blue is fantastic, and I'd consider it if it were shorter!

[thorn]

I would swap your Chopin for a Liszt. You used Chopin in your other program, play something else.

Not enough people play Spanish repertoire so I think something from Iberia/Goyescas would be a great choice (they wouldn't accept Evocation (Iberia 1) which is ATCL level). There's also Albeniz's Navarra which is one of my favourite Spanish pieces. It was meant to be part of Iberia.

What do you think of Debussy/Ravel? Also Faure- the Faure/Grainger song arrangements are really nice.

Rachmaninoff? Scriabin?

The Szymanowski op.4 Etudes. Etude 3 is beautiful (but the syllabus says you'd have to play Etude 2 with it)

The Crumb is very much listenable but involves special inside piano effects that some exam centres may not approve of. Please give them a listen even if you have no interest in playing them, they are lovely pieces.

The Takemitsu is also very much listenable! Rain Tree II is easier than the first one.

The Carousel Waltz is a bloody difficult piece. I considered using it for my LTCL but thought better of it.

[anastasiah1991]

The Spanish works are great - I love them! Hadn't come across Navarra before so thanks for that!

Chopin is my all time favourite composer, so I'm trying to hold onto the scherzo as I absolutely love it :p. Liszt comes in a close second though! I was seriously considering trying to tackle the Hungarian Rhapsody No 2, but didn't think there was enough contrast between that and the Chopin.

I was also considering the D sharp minor Scriabin Etude or the Rach Prelude in G minor but again, balancing the program was my issue.

On another notes, what do you think of the Grunfeld arrangement of Strauss' Fledermaus? It's not on the LTCL List but I think difficulty wise it would be approved?

[whistlestop]

I've just checked the LTCL syllabus list and I was mistaken; they only specify El Albaicin and Triana from Iberia. Apologies. Good luck with whatever you choose!

[pianoman1349]

I wouldn't worry too much about having both Chopin and Liszt on the same program.

Personally, I would avoid Schubert, as it is really finicky and requires an immense amount of musical insight and analysis to sound convincing.  You already have to do that with the Mozart, so the Schubert may be a bit of overkill in that respects (but again, I'm not a Schubert player ... so I may be wrong about that).

Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2 would not the best choice with the Scherzo for the reasons that you have stated.

The Goyescas would be a nice choice to balance the scherzo and rondo.

I personally love the Dohnanyi Rhapsody no 3, though it would not balance with the Scherzo.

thorn is right in suggesting a Debussy/Ravel piece.  Perhaps Debussy's Jardins sous la pluie, Mouvement, or Toccata may be appropriate.  The Ravel sonatine may also be a good choice


Best of luck in the LTCL exam

[thorn]

I wasn't taking issue at Chopin himself, just saying that if I'd used him in my other exam I'd use the Liszt in this one. To be honest I would avoid avoid avoid bothScherzo 2 and Hungarian Rhapsody 2 in an exam like this.

I'm sorry I don't know the Strauss...

All 6 of the Goyescas and 11/12 pieces from Iberia are on a par. I don't know why LTCL say any piece from Goyescas but only El Albaicin/Triana from Iberia. (Glad you liked Navarra by the way)

I agree with the Debussy and Ravel suggestions and would add Cloches a travers les feuilles (Debussy) and Noctuelles (Ravel) which are short and sweet (but very effective). I don't know what your technique is like but if you can manage it then also Jeux d'eau (Ravel).

A really lovely calmer Rachmaninoff on the syllabus is Etude tableau 39/2.

[symphonicdance]

I did my LTCL by self-learning in 2011 (over 40+ years old) and my FTCL again by self-learning recently   .  My LT programme was:
Bach - P&F in E flat minor BWV853 WTC Book 1 (10 min)
Mozart - Rondo in A minor K511 (10 min)
Prokofiev - Two pieces from Romeo & Juliet Op 75 - (#6 and #10) (10 min)
Ravel - Sonatine (10 min)

(No romantic works as you may argue!  But any way, the examiner commented it's a balanced programme    )

Difficult to get high marks on Mozart, unless you can really the genuine Mozart touch.  (But not bad if a candidate just wants a safe landing.)  

I did have put together a number of romantic works (particularly Chopin) in my initial shortlists, but eventually dropped them as I progressed along with my daily practice.  Perhaps I just felt that I'd kill him.

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Regarding your concern, it's okay if some one puts forth an all-Chopin, all-Liszt, or all-romantic programme, provided he/she really played them well.  Otherwise, from exam strategy perspective, I think it's better to have at least 3 composers of different characters (or from 3 different periods as most teachers will suggest).

If you like romantic works so much, then you can just play:

either the Mozart or Schubert you proposed (10 min);
an impressionalist/neo-classical/20th century piece that last 8-12 min [do check out the Prokofiev pieces in my LT programme; very good choice but seldom picked   ]; and
the rest romantic works (18-22 min).  

In addition to Chopin Scherzo No 2, you can add Chopin Nocturne, Polonaise, and/or Etudes to make up the time.  Or Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, ......   (BTW, Chopin Scherzo No 2 in 9 min is on the fast side, I think most pianists take 10-11 min.)

Playing sequence of all pieces will depend on what you picked.

In this part of the world, Chopin Ballade #1, Etudes (esp. Op 10 No 3) & Nocturnes, Brahms Rhapsodies Op 79, Granados Goyesca #4 (Quejas ķ La maja y el ruiseņor) are quite popular for LT exam.  Beethoven "Tempest" is probably the most favourite choice of a classical work.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a candidate should play a programme that demonstrates his/her strengths and avoids showing his/her weaknesses.  After all, the core objective is to (at least) pass the exam.  (Expensive exam fee, and can only get more expensive!)

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Good luck!