Which would you pick?

[BoliverAllmon]

I was thinking of going to Shepherd's School of Music here in Texas and I was curious. The auditions are the following:Thirty minutes of memorized repertoire representing three of the following four style periods: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionist/Contemporary. Recommended: Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, a sonata by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven, a solo piece from the Romantic repertoire, and a work by a representative 20th-Century composer.

which pieces would you choose (for yourself)?

BoliverAllmon

[chopinetta]

for the romantic pieces, liszt and chopin would be great!

why not a polonaise or a hungarian rhapsody?

[amee]

For the sonata, I'd probably pick one by Mozart or Beethoven.  It depends which style suits you most.

[chopiszte]

I would pick a Beethoven sonata, one of the more difficult ones, I love the Moonlight but it wouldn't be a good choice, the first two movements are easy, the last is just arpeggios and scales.  You don't want to look like one of those people who think the third movement of this piece is so incredibly difficult.  

Bach's prelude/fugue 2 from book 1 of thw wtc

Franz Liszt's Mazzeppa (transcendal etude number 4, I don't expect someone just entering conservatory to necessarily be able to play it just yet, but if you can by any chance that would be wonderfull).


if not the mazzeppa etude possibly Chopin's ballades/polonaises/fantasie-impromptu, always a crowd pleaser

umm.....lastly a piece of Rachmaninoff's.

[Chiyo]

I'd play:

Baroque - Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier I - No.3 and No. 12
Classical - Beethoven Sonata Op. 53 No.1 [Waldstein] or Op. 57 No.1 [Appassionata]
Romantic - Chopin Ballade Op. 29
Impressionist/Contemporary - Any Rachmaninoff Piece

[amp]

How about for the Mozart Sonata, the whole one you've already started, with the Turkish March? K.331. The first movement is beautiful, and would be easier to learn than the March.

I'm surprised people are suggesting the Ballades, I would go for a smaller work (if they allow it). A nocturne or Waltz. You want a mix of pieces that are easier for you, and others difficult. Maybe try pairing some smaller romantic pieces together. That shows the auditioners your taste in music, and abilty to put apporopriate pieces together.

How about Debussy, a prelude? Bartok suite?

[BoliverAllmon]

Agreed, Moonlight would not be a good choice. I personally like fugue 2 from the wtc, but prelude in C would be a really bad choice. I looked at the sheet music for Lizst's mazeppa and that is definately out there. It would be fun to learn, but I seriously doubt playing that any time soon. I really wouldn't go for Mozart's Sonata in A, because of everyone's familiarity with it. It is kinda like Fur elise, everyone wants to play it and it isn't looked upon like you accomplished anything. I like Rach's Elegie (sp?) I think it would be good, because it is slower and that would show that I am able to play different styles. The others I am not sure on though. I will just start working on what I know I want (fugue 2) and work real hard on finger exercises, so that maybe I will play Mazeppa down the road (LOL).

BoliverAllmon

[chopinetta]

i suggest a mixture of pieces which are different in tempo, style, etc.

for example, the moonlight sonata in classical, then mix it with a fast piece in romantic, like an etude, anything...

[amee]

For an audition, you probably want to pick pieces that show different aspects, like technique, interpretation, difficult rhythms, etc.  Don't pick a lot of pieces that are similar; a wide range of styles, tempo, etc are best like Chopinetta said.  

[ayahav]

all of you are suggesting rachmaninoff as a 20th century composer; to me he's always been a romantic. I would do on of the preludes and fugues (it's never been my area, so you're on your own there). Then i'd do one of the early Beethoven sonatas

-C minor op. 10 no.1 is it? not the pathetique;
-or maybe the first one in F minor).

Then i'd play
- a schumann - maybe the second sonata,
- or chopin - the first ballad,
- or Brahms Rhapsody Op.72 No.1.

There's so much repertoire. As a 20th century composition i wouldn't play rachmaninoff - I would show that I am open minded and play a contemporary work -
-shostakovich,
-Villa-Lobos (a prole do bebe "the baby's family"),
-Piazzola - the preludes,
-schoenberg if you can tolerate it (webern and berg are under this same category)
-copland (yanks like yanks, especially texan yanks like yanks)
- or barber
but i would stick to the 20th century idea.....
good luck

[BoliverAllmon]

Well, I have talked with my teacher and we are currently working on some pieces to learn technique and how to work with a metronome. I plan on starting to work on the recital around new year's.  Here are some ideas that I would like to play. I doubt I play them all, but here we go.

Bach's prelude and fugue no. 3 from WTC 1

chopin's Ballade no. 1 in G minor

Lizst Trans. Etude No. 8.

I still don't know what I will do for a sonata, but I got plenty of time to figure it out.

[dreamaurora]

BoliverAllmon, it is not always necessary to play the hardest pieces out there to ensure better success for audition, unless you are really thinking of big names such as Julliard , Eastman, or whatever. From your previous posts , I gather that one of the last pieces you played is Bach's Invention no 8, and even then your teacher still does not deem it concertworthy. To be realistic, the pieces you want to play as listed in post above will take at least one year to prepare , and that is if you are willing to spend at least 6-8 hours a day practicing those, and there is no guarantee that you will be able to play them well enough as they are way above your skill level.

I don't even think of attempting Ballade no 1 or Liszt's Transcedental Etude, they are way too difficult for me to play them decently now. And Bach's WTC book 1 no 3 Prelude and Fugue is one of the hardest from Well Tempered Clavier Book 1 and 2. The fugue is very very complex, not to mention the tempo is very fast, I know because I pulled out a lot of hair practicing this fugue. I would suggest you take a lower repertoire to audition and play them very well instead. These are my suggestions, will still be very difficult for you, but I would think it would be realistic for you to attempt in one year if you work hard.

- Bach's Book 1 Prelude and Fugue no 21 ( much easier than it looks and sounds )
- Beethoven's op 54 sonata complete
- Faure's Barcarolle no 1 ( sounds heavenly )
- Ravel's sonatine

[BoliverAllmon]

I actually haven't heard many of these pieces, but I do have the recordings of the WTC and I will look up the others.  The only reason why the invention is not concert ready is because my teacher wants me to bring greater dynamic control to the piece. She is also using the piece for me to learn many different things. LIke playing to the metronome at various different speeds to work on my internal rhythmn. We are overexaggerating the dynamics to work on control and working on other things. she says that once I get my goals accomplished with the invention that I will be able to do other pieces quicker. I have also done prelude 1 and 2 from the WTC, not up to speed on the second but I have done them. I also can play invention no. 1 in C and begun work on sinfonia 1 as well as Brahms Waltz in A-flat major to work on my chord playing. I am not saying that I shot too high on expectations. I am just showing that I am not just a complete idiot and I did have some reason on why I thought I could perform them with diligent practice. I will look into your suggestions though.

Boliver

[BoliverAllmon]

Here's a question for you. Would you recommend working on pieces that I am very confident in being able to play real well, and work extremely hard on an very advanced piece? Or should I just work and push the envelope to the best of my ability (not necessarily the pieces I recommeneded earlier) and do bigger pieces in all time periods?

Boliver

[dreamaurora]

BoliverAllmon, I encourage all the way in your pursue of music, however I will speak from personal experience here. I also fell into the trap of attempting extremely advanced pieces last time that were way above my level. Although at that point of time I believed that if I really work very hard I would be able to play them well. My previous teacher was not very helpful either, he didn't give me much advice and just let me went on on my unguided learning spree.

However, when I got my new teacher, who was one of the best in my city, he was very strict with my playing and demand the utmost perfection to my ability. Only then I realise how difficult it was to play well even the simplest of pieces. My teacher also prevented me from attempting overly complex pieces and prescribed a more modest repertoire instead that builds up my musicality and technique incrementally. I realise learning piano is not as simple as choosing the pieces you want to learn and bringing them to your teacher to teach you. No, it is not simple as that sounds, as much as I want to attempt bigger works such as Chopin's Sonatas , I know that I am not ready for it yet. I and my teacher always make it a point to push my envelope by trying out pieces one level above me, but NOT two or three levels above.

Forget what you have read about some of our fellow forumers have posted in this forum. Without mentioning names, I realise a lot of forumers here do not really know what they are talking about, especially those self-taught ones. I am telling you truth, because I really see your passion and would wish to see you becoming a good pianist. The truth may not be what you want to hear, but it is important to get the facts of piano learning correct and not letting incorrect opinions ruin your perception.

[BoliverAllmon]

thanks for the advice. I don't want to screw up my piano playing ability either by wasting time on things that are extremely difficult. I remember working for a while on Mozart's Ronda Alla Turca. I learned the nearly everything except the last page. I told my teacher about it thinking she would be proud of my ambition. She wasn't thrilled at all. She told me that because of my other playing she knew that I could not bring out the true aspect of Mozart. She did uplift my spirits though, (after demolishing them) by telling me a game plan on pieces that we will work on so that I can one day work on  Mozart and do him justice. For example we are working on a Haydn Sonata, then progress to an easy Beethoven, then go to either a hard Beethoven or an easy Mozart, after that we go to full-fledge Mozart. I understand there is a process. There is just a part of me that wants to make sure I do the process as fast as possible.

Boliver

[dreamaurora]

Okay, now back to your audition repertoire. I cannot assess fully your level unless I heard your playing. However if your idea is playing a piece well is just playing them 'up-to-speed' , you still have a long way to go. As a general rule, you should spend 2 times the amount of time you learn the notes for a piece to work out the music, such as the dynamic change, tonal qualities and colours, voicing, and adding your own intepretation. It took me one whole month learn to prelude and fugue no 3 from WTC book 1 to play the notes and getting up to speed, but that was 2 months ago, up to today I still play them very very slowly and work out music.

But, anyway, I admire your enthusiasm and passion. And with proper guidance you may be able to achieve good standard. I will assess your repertoire and give you suggestions. And do check out my repertoire progression threads to get better idea of repertoire , advance level should be doable for you to bring for audition.

Okay, you have done prelude 1 ,2, and invention no 1. For an audition with prelude and fugue as one of the repertoire required, the fugue is what the judges want to hear. And to tell you the truth, fugues are very evil to learn and memorise, and not to mention playing it well. Take up one or two prelude and fugues before you decide on your final prelude and fugue , and don't choose those that are way too difficult, like no 3. However, take your time and learn a few more inventions and sinfonias along the way, they will help you understand bach's music better.

For your other repertoire, you played a Brahms Waltz, well, the pieces for your audition will be much larger in scale and attempting a romantic or contemporary sonatas will be tantamount to musical suicide. It seems like your technique is not that good yet, so it would be best for you to refrain from overly virtuosic pieces such as Liszt. You can try to play Chopin's nocturnes, Faure's barcarolles, or Schubert's impromptus. And focus on getting a good cantabile playing, it is very very important in playing romantic pieces.

For 20th century, tough choice, you have not tried any, so I would suggest you try out easier contemporary pieces by different composers so you know which kind of sound and style you would prefer. Contemporary pieces are tricky to play and many of them are quite difficult technically.

Do talk with your teacher about the audition repertoire. Let us know again what will be your final choice. Do the pieces that you will be comfortable technically and make the best music you can.

[BoliverAllmon]

I will definately let you know the outcome. I go to lessons Wednesday and the teacher and I are going to spend the next 4-5 months working on various techniques and similar things. all pieces that I learn hear will be for a jury exam in Dec. After that I will make a more final decision as to what the repertoire will be. By the way I just love to say that word, repertoire. It is just fun.

boliverallmon