LTCL repertoire please help

[tresila]

Hi I've been visiting this forum every now and then and finally decided to open an account here. (This is my first post I hope I didn't get anything wrong.) As I am playing piano without a proper teacher, I would like to seek advice from you guys

I'm planning to take the LTCL next year and here is my proposed repertoire:

Beethoven's Sonata in D minor, op. 31 no. 2 ‘Tempest’ (22'30")
Mendelssohn's Andante & Rondo Capriccioso op. 14 (7')
Shostakovich's Prelude & Fugue in E minor, op. 87 no. 4 (8'30")

I'm almost done with Rondo Capriccioso (just need to speed it up) and about 1/3 way through the Sonata.
However,will the contrast between Beethoven and Mendelssohn be too small?
Should I substitute Beethoven with Mozart's Sonata in A minor (14'30") + Any 2 etudes from Chopin (~5'30") + Scarlatti's Sonatas in G minor & major (6')? Rach's Prelude in G minor (4') could be one of the options too, but I have tiny hands...

[jacobsterling]

I think the contrast is fine. However it could be better by choosing Beethoven's Sonata in D major, op. 10/3 more I think. I played it last year on my grade 10 exam for the RCM and it isn't that bad. Except, maybe if you have tiny hands.

[pianoman1349]

I would stay with the Tempest sonata that you have chosen, as it is very good for small hands in general.  Good program for the LTCL exam.  Best of Luck!!

[diomedes]

Play what you feel most convinced by and love. That contrast is ok, could be more but I wouldn't raise an issue with it if it's what you want.

For me, the tempest is a real relationship piece, I've performed it 3 times in the past month and play my program at another location this Saturday, and can honestly say I love improving it and performing it for grateful audiences is a privilege.

[symphonicdance]

In my silly opinion:-

1. Tempest is seemingly a super hot pick for LT.  In my home city, I would say a quarter to a third of the candidates would pick this work.  (I didn't though.)

2. A candidate should not play long repeats in the LT exam (observe exam regulations and guidelines).  For Tempest, you therefore would have to discount (or clock it properly) the mentioned 22 min 30 sec playing time.

3. If you keep Tempest (and after cutting the repeats), then you need to place additional work(s) in your programme to meet the min. playing time requirement.

4. Your mentioned Chopin or Scarlatti pieces could work in 3 above.  However, it is wise for a candidate to research and thoroughly explore the syllabus to short-list the potential one.  (The pieces initially planned in my LT program were totally different from those in my final program.)

5. Carefully plan the sequence of the your works.  Not necessarily in the order of periods.

I passed LT and FT by self-learning.

Good luck!  Nonetheless, if you encounter difficulties and couldn't solve for a long time, you better to find a teacher.

[tresila]

Thanks a lot for all of your help and advice!

Tempest is super popular in my city too symphonicdance I played Pathetique in ATCL and the result was quite good, so I thought Tempest may also suit me. I will consider working Scarlatti/Chopin in after timing Tempest properly. And FTCL by self-learning? WOW.

Thanks pianoman1349 and good luck diomedes to your performance!

And jacobsterling Sonata in D is indeed a more "classical" choice than Tempest, but I think the technical difficulty is also quite high

[glennross]

Hi I've been visiting this forum every now and then and finally decided to open an account here. (This is my first post I hope I didn't get anything wrong.) As I am playing piano without a proper teacher, I would like to seek advice from you guys

I'm planning to take the LTCL next year and here is my proposed repertoire:

Beethoven's Sonata in D minor, op. 31 no. 2 ‘Tempest’ (22'30")
Mendelssohn's Andante & Rondo Capriccioso op. 14 (7')
Shostakovich's Prelude & Fugue in E minor, op. 87 no. 4 (8'30")

I'm almost done with Rondo Capriccioso (just need to speed it up) and about 1/3 way through the Sonata.
However,will the contrast between Beethoven and Mendelssohn be too small?
Should I substitute Beethoven with Mozart's Sonata in A minor (14'30") + Any 2 etudes from Chopin (~5'30") + Scarlatti's Sonatas in G minor & major (6')? Rach's Prelude in G minor (4') could be one of the options too, but I have tiny hands...

I'll give you some advice for substitutions of the Tempest Sonata:

Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 16 in G major, op. 31/1
Clementi: Piano Sonata in G minor, op. 50/3
Schubert: Piano Sonata in C minor, D 958
von Weber: Piano Sonata in C major, op. 24

You could also go down a notch and try this ones:

Beethoven:

• Piano Sonata No. 7 in D major, op. 10/3
• Piano Sonata No. 11 in B-flat major, op. 22
• Piano Sonata No. 15 in D major, op. 28
• Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-flat major, op. 31/3

Haydn:

• Piano Sonata in C major, Hob. XVI:50
• Piano Sonata in E-flat major, Hob. XVI:52

Mozart:

• Piano Sonata No. 15 in F major, K 533/494
• Piano Sonata No. 18 in D major, K 576

However, try jacob's suggestion. The op. 10/3 isn't too hard, imo.

BW,
Glenn

[symphonicdance]

In my opinion, Beethoven PS #4 is the easiest, amongst all his works on LT syllabus, though some friends disagree.  It's also pretty lengthy to kill time.