Need help picking repertoire for exam

[thatonejuan]

Hello,
I am a 13 year old pianist(amateur) and at my music school we have these “exams” every 6 months. In these exams we play all the scales, arpeggios, etc. and a “big piece”, etude, and a “smaller big piece”. Last exam I played Liszt’s Liebestraum as the “big piece”, Chopin  etude op 10 no 8 as the etude, and Rachmaninoff prelude op 23 no 5 as the “smaller big piece”. So, I just had the exam last week and I need help picking new pieces for the next exam. Any suggestions on what I could play for my next exam?

[thatonejuan]

Not rly an amateur wrong choice of words.

[visitor]

Bowen. Blow up the exam and smack the ears of the reviewers and your peers w some wicked. Music  they should  be ashamed of for ignoring/not seeking out and discovering  it themselves

[thatonejuan]

Damn...
Never heard of that dude before but that was rly beautiful. So what I’m thinking about for the “big piece” might be that Bowen Reverie not sure tho but I rly like it. An alternative would be Liszt’s Harmonies du soir and even though that’s an “etude” it’s a big piece so I bet they would allow it. For the etude I would wanna try out the Scriabin etude op 8 no 12 but I’m not sure if I would be ready for it. Any suggestions would be very appreciated. And for the “smaller big piece” I would really want to play Bortkiewicz Op 61 no 2 “A Dream” from the Fantasy Pieces(I love @rachfan’s recordings of Bortkiewicz in the audition room).

Do you guys think these would be good picks? I’m not sure whether to play the Bowen Reverie or the Liszt and I think the Scriabin Etude might be a little too hard for me.

Thank you for your help

[achoo42]

These are decent picks. For the "big piece" you can also try Schumann's Abegg variations, which is fairly pianistic (at least in comparison to other Schumann works) and sounds very impressive.

[thatonejuan]

Hello,

I generally don’t like Schumann tbh. The Abegg Variations doesn’t look too hard and sounds pretty good. I like it and think it’s a good pick for the “big piece”. Thank you all for your help I’ve decided to pick the Schumann Abegg Variations for the “big piece”, the Chopin Ocean Etude for the etude and the Bowen Reverie op 86 for the “smaller big piece”. I am pretty happy with the choices and I hope I will be able to kind of impress the judges for my exam by not playing the same old boring overplayed pieces everyone plays.

Again, thanks for your guys' help

[achoo42]

This sounds like a good rep. Hopefully playing the Abegg will get you into more Schumann in the future, and good luck on your exam.

[fftransform]

More than the piano, he's certainly an English virtuoso for only 13 years old . . .  Surprising how you've picked up a lot of structural idioms from the 90's and early 2000's, you must watch a lot of Seinfeld.

[thatonejuan]

Thanks... I guess?
Tbh I don’t really know what you’re talking about. Idk what idioms from the 90s I used looking back at my posts. The only idioms I know of are just the ones from the 60s like “fuzz”, “booze”, “cooler”, “tuff” etc. and that’s just because I had to read a book for English class that took place in the 60s. Nah, I don’t watch Seinfeld. Generally don’t watch a lot of  tv shows tbh. Probably the only one i actually enjoyed was The Office(liked it so much I watched it twice) but I watched the U.S. once which was from like 2005 or 2006 so yeah.

Thanks again?

[thatonejuan]

 I mean I spend a lot of time with my uncle who grew up in the 90s so maybe that’s why.

[mediocrepianist123]

Well i think for the etude Definetly do a liszt transcendental (no. 4 is great) or maybe a schumann symphonic etude.
I think Chopin etudes are a tad bit overrated and a little to easy for someone like you. You need to show the judges that you are making progress.
 

[achoo42]

I don't think the Ocean etude is "too easy" in the slightest. The Schumann symphonic etudes are typically played as a whole and they're 30-35 minutes, so it seems much too large for his exam. There is no need to rush to repertoire like Transcendental Etude No.4 at his age, regardless of his talent. His current repertoire is fine. If one wants to do a virtuoso Liszt etude in the future, No.2, No.7, and No.8 are much better places to start than No.4

[thatonejuan]

mediocorepianist123, thank you and I take your reply as a huge compliment but I think i should wait with a Liszt etude until the next exam after the one in May(I have 2 a year, one in May and one in October). Liszt’s Transcendental etudes are monsters and Mazeppa is far too hard for me but I’m thinking I might try the 7th or 8th one at some point, maybe even for the next exam but I don’t think so. But for now I think my repertoire should be fairly challenging and a good choice. Again thanks for the reply, I take it as a big compliment.

[mediocrepianist123]

Well Ocean is a great choice. And no problem. Good luck!

[illystraiter]

Ocean is a really good etude. Don't let anyone tell you it's too easy. Yes it's just a repetitive pattern, but being able to bring out the melody and make it sing requires a lot of practice and skill.

[chrismaninoff]

Maybe I'm late to the party, but it seems to me like you need something with counterpoint.  And also re the Scriabin, I'd say you need to be able to play relaxed fortissimo in order to do that one.  It's not too hard, but can tire you out (or damage your arms) if your technique for loud stuff isn't great. 

I'd say some classical/baroque stuff would look good on the exam.  If you play too much romantic/late romantic music, it looks a bit typical to most people.  But then again you are young so they are probably just happy you are playing classical music lol. 

[thatonejuan]

I came across this problem with my when I told her my repertoire choices and she said I need something from the baroque-classical era because I didn’t have anything from it last time either. So right now, I haven’t really started the three pieces becases the exam is still over 6 months away plus I’m working on some pieces that aren’t for the exam but I’m going to have to start playing them by the end of the month so I’m thinking of switching the Schumann with a Beethoven sonata but only 1 mvt of it because the whole thing would be too long. I like the tempest sonata 1st and 3rd movements and I don’t want to play the pathetique sonata because it’s overplayed. Any suggestions on Sonatas by Beethoven? Should I play something by a different composer? I just don’t want to play any Haydn. Ugh. Just need some relatively long piece/movement about 10 mins length for the “big piece” in the baroque-classical era.

[brogers70]

For a longish (10 min) Baroque-Classical piece.....

1. Bach Prelude and Fugue in C# minor from WTC Book I. The prelude is emotional and romantic and the (triple fugue) is impressive.

2. The last movement of Beethoven's first piano sonata is fast and impassioned.

3. The first movement of the Beethoven Sonata in Ab opus 26 is a great set of variations with different character and some flashy bits.