what's a "dip" ABRSM exam? Is that some kind or grade or something? The Pathetique sonata coinsides with gr. 10 in Canada.
I definitely think you should change the Beethoven...its way too common and gives the examiner lots of oppurtunities to find blemishes and deduct marks. Also considering that you can choose from outside the syllabus a piece of max. 7 minutes duration in DipABRSM, the Appasionata and Waldstein gets out of question even if you could possibly learn them. I would advise you to choose a little different program: 1. Do you have to choose a prelude and fugue by Bach everytime?? Why not one of the toccatas mentioned in the syllabus, I really like the E minor and D major ones .....the examiner will definitely appreciate the choice since prelude and fugues are played by virtually all canditates.2. If you are bent on playing a Beethoven Sonata only, i would suggest op. 10-1 maybe. A better idea would be to play the 32 variations in c minor, and an even better one would be to leave Beethoven and go for maybe the Haydn, one of the Mozart or Schubert sonatas.3. Definitely change the Schubert impromptu, its wayy too commonly played! there is a beautiful chopin nocturne (in e major i think) which you can bank upon, one of the Rach preludes maybe (op. 23-7 is a good and challenging one, but don't choose the op.32-5 and 32-12.....again very common). There is also a Faure Nocturne i think, a very beautiful piece.4. I haven't heard the Bartok, but I think it would be a good choice to retain it as it would offer something different. Also, did you fail the performance part only or the sight reading and viva and the written bit? Just keep in mind that ultimately it is not the choice of pieces which matter but how you play them. The problem with picking the common pieces are that you offer a standard comparison with the hundreds of great pianists who have recorded the piece and give the examiner ample oppurtunity to fail you (because it IS tough to match the greats, isn't it? !!). Best of luck !!
By the way, this is not an easy exam to pass, especially watch out for the quick learning test.Good luck.
You might as well just learn das Hammerklavier.
You can't go to Arsm without dipABRSM? or are they the same?
Hi Jenni,Yes, we have introductary through grade 10 and then there's also a performer's diploma (or the equivalent of grade 11). Let's see...I'm in grade nine and one of my pieces is Bach's prelude and fugue in c minor (no.2 I think). A grade ten piece would be Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata--two movements so you can't just pick the slow one. And grade 11 has pieces like the entire Moonlight Sonata. Each grade has theory (the higher ones that is), and ear tests, and sightreading, and technique. For example, in grade 10 you have to be able to play all the scales at 120 on the metronome, but in 16th notes. That would be...480 notes a minute minimum speed. Learning the pieces doesn't sound too bad, but they can fail you if your technique isn't up to par which is revealed in the pieces. To pass grade 11, you need to put on a 1 hour performance from memory. My teacher did this and didn't have a memory lapse, but failed the first time anyway because they thought she wasn't techically advanced enough yet! Yikes! Speaking of which, my technique is calling. Gotta go.
Topic: I failed DipABRSM, looking for new Beethoven sonata