Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner The many choices....hmmmm.

Pretty soon, I am auditioning for the New England Conservatory. Yay... Put yourself in my position. What specific pieces would you choose for each of these requirments.

1.)A Bach prelude and fugue, or a complete Bach suite or partita
2.)A complete Classical sonata, e.g., by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert
3.)A substantial Romantic work, e.g., a Brahms rhapsody or a Chopin ballade
4.)A 20th-century work, e.g., a Hindemith sonata, Bartók Allegro Barbaro, Schoenberg Six Pieces op. 19
5.)A fast etude by Chopin, Moszkowski, or Liszt, or one of comparable difficulty

I was thinking:

1.) Prelude and Fugue #13 WTC #1
2.) Beethoven's Tempest Sonata
3.) Dont know here....
4.) Dont know....
5.) AND HAVE NO IDEA

There's my list so far ha.

Zeldah

Zeldah,
Chopin ballades are very nice to play for the romantic part. I really like #2 and #3. For the 20th century you could play some Debussy. I am currently playing the Image 1 suite. You could also play Ginastera's Danzas Argentinas. Its a fun piece. For the fast etude you should look at Un Sospiro. I imagine that you don't have too much time before auditions to learn all this music....good luck!

1. don't know
2. Beethoven Appassionata or Tempest
3. any Chopin ballade
4. why not something Russian such as Prokofiev sonata No. 7 or 8?
5. Chopin or Liszt etude definitely (esp., imo, Chopin) You could try Liszt Trascendetal etude (no. 12???) Chasse Neige, but I think you'd be better off doing Chopin.

Maybe... Op. 10 No, 4,5,8,12 or Op. 25 No. 6, (haha, but seriously, it's a fun etude) 11,12 for Chopin.

Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff!!
(ok, so i am like in love with the guy, but he is a winner, he seems to go over well with the judges!)

Zelda,

IMO, you need to approach this smartly (is that a real word?). Remember that you're being evaluated on technique and musicality. Therefore, not every piece needs to be of super technical difficulty. Mix it up so that you have time to get the technical stuff "up-to-speed". Second, pick the kind of pieces that you play well. For example, in my case, I can't play Mozart for s**t. My chordal and rotation technique is far better than my finger technique. Therefore, I would never program Mozart for something like this. Also, pick the type of mood that you play well. I've never managed joyous and fun very well; but I play intense pretty darn intensely. Finally, pick pieces that you love. If you have to practice them for awhile, this is important. But, far more important is that if you love the piece, you communicate it better.

So far, I think your selections are fine. If you pick a Ballade, I'd pick an easier contemporary work like Allegro Barbaro. If you pick a Brahm's Rhapsody, pick a more difficult contemporary work. Finally, you can never go wrong with a Chopin etude.

Good luck!

Zelda,

The thing with college auditions is that you want to follow their guidelines yet still find interesting repertoire to play that not many other people will have. I can tell you from experience that the last thing that college professors want to hear is the 20th Chopin Ballade of the day. Granted (and don't take this personally), at a younger age most people aren't ready musically for something of the likes of Franck's Prelude, Chorale, et Fugue. For my graduate school auditions this year, I'm playing the Liszt Sonata, Messiaen's Regard de l'Esprit de Joie, and a Haydn Sonata that I completed based on a fragment that was discovered (this was an assignment that I had to do for a class...very fun). I know for sure that I have at least one piece that no one else has (the Haydn I finished), and most likely two considering that L'Esprit de Joie is so hard. But to return to my point, try to pick something that will distinguish you from the crowd.

The Bach and the Beethoven you have picked look good. Here's what I would suggest for the other categories:

(respectively)

3. A selection from any of the three books of Liszt's Annes de Pelerinage - Valle d'Obermann from book I, any of the three Petrarch Sonnets from book 2, or Les Jeux d'Eau a la Villa d'Este from book 3 (this one would probably be the best choice of the ones I suggested). You might also want to look at Mendelssohn's Rondo Cappricioso, op. 14, Brahms' Rhapsody in E-flat op. 119 #4, or the first movement of Scriabin's Sonata #2. Chopin 4th Scherzo would also be a good choice.

4. (your choice) Villa-Lobos, any movement from the "Doll Suite;" Messiaen, Preludes; Ravel Jeux D'Eau; if you are particularly brave, you can try some Emma Lou Diemer's Toccata, which requires you to play inside of the piano in addition to the usual barrage of 20th century piano techniques.

5. I second Amy's vote for Un Sospiro. It is much easier than it sounds. You might want to look at Scriabin's Etudes also - op 8 no. 12 would be a good one. If you want to drive yourself insane and ruin your hands, Ligeti has two books of Etudes which all pianists fear like there is no tomorrow.

1. Prelude #13 is a clear, bright opening statement. It should perk the judges up a little. It's not too fast though, which is good. I would feel a lot of pressure if I had to perform a faster piece from the beginning, like the Prelude #6 WTC II which I'm attempting at the moment. Your hands will need to warm up on the 'different' audition piano.

2. The Tempest should be suitable to progress into, for the judges listening to you at least.

3. I love Brahm's Rhapsody G- opus 79. no. 2.

4. I also love Ravel's Ondine (Gaspard de la nuit), however I feel that it's one of those pieces that just has to be performed superbly or not at all. It is very difficult.

5. I'd finish with Liszt's Etude Trancendental No. 8. Wilde Jagd (then wonder why I wasn't doing the main international performance circuits already!)

Best of luck!!

By the way, how much time have you got?

Woah, I honestly thought no one would respond!
Ok, now I’m going to respond to you each individually.


Amy,

I will download ballads 2 and 3 from Morpheus. I actually haven’t heard many Chopin Ballads. I remember I had heard one and I didn’t really favor that style, so I didn’t download anymore. Did you ever finish “reflections in the water?” I think I remember you mentioning that Debussy piece.

aznlilies2001,

Appassionata is too difficult for me at the moment. I think it may be a year or two before I can play a piece like that. I really think the Prokeiv #7 is great though. I have a recording of Glenn playing that. J I believe I’m still not that advanced yet.

PianoMuse,

Ha, yes, Rachmaninoff rocks!

Alex,

Yup, smartly is a word. : ) I was actually wondering if judges will be more impressed with quality technique or quality emotion. I was figuring, if they are proper musicians, they wouldn’t favor either. There should be a balance between the two. Just like one shouldnt act on emotions without logic, or logic without emotion. One needs both to accomplish anything to its full extent. Therefore, I will not choose all technically difficult pieces.

You’re right, it’s true that one should love a piece if performing in this sort of situation. Then one is playing for one’s own sake rather than the judges. When a person plays for himself, I believe he plays a whole heck of a lot better.

I was thinking if I do pick a Brahms Rhapsody, it would be the first one.

Brendan,

I was also thinking that I shouldn’t play the average pieces that average pianists would choose. I want to show that I’m not the typical pianist, and I want to show that I can offer something to the music world.

That Haydn Sonata sounds extremely interesting! What kind of fragment did you correct?

I’ve never heard of Ligeti. Is his music something one can listen to, or are te pieces for technical purposes? Are his pieces harder than Liszt’s pieces?

The Un Sospiro sounds like a good idea. Thanks for bringing that to my attention; I might choose that.

And I will definetly download all the songs you mentioned and observe them. To be honest I haven’t heard of some of those composers! Should I be ashamed?

John,

Yes, I believe Prelude No 13 is a good choice also. But I didn’t choose it because it was easier than others. I truly love that Prelude. I wish I could describe exactly what I like about it. I guess I can’t analyze tones well enough to explain why or how it creates the mood it does. The first time I heard Glenn play it, I just fell in love with it. It sounded childish in a way, but that’s only if one listens to it passive mindedly. Anyway, when I play it, not only will my hands warm up, but my mind and emotions will too since I feel so closely to the piece. (didn’t mean to sound so corny)

I love the Brahms R. No 2 also. : )

I haven’t heard Ravel's Ondine, but I will check it out. (my my, I’m going to have to download so much tonight!)

I have until February. That’s not too much time. But I have what it takes to accomplish these pieces by then.

[ October 23, 2001: Message edited by: ZeldaHanson ]

Zeldah:
Yes, I have been working on "Reflections in the Water." Its is getting close to performance perfect. I just have to polish up about 1/2 a page worth of it and memorize the 2nd half of it. I have a studio recital coming up in about a month so I will choose to play either that or the Mozart sonata in a. I always decide the day of the performance what I want to play. : )
I also second looking at the Rondo Capricioso. I can't remember who suggested that.

All that we had to go on was the first four measures that Haydn wrote down in a thematic index and had to finish composing the movement. It was hard, but I liked the challenge in trying to make it sound like Haydn (although mine ended up sounding a little too much like Beethoven). Maybe I can scan it sometime and send it to you...

I can't help too much with specifics, but you might look at a collection of Moszkowski's works for the fast etude category (there's a good Schirmer volume). These tend to make a brilliant effect without being so hard to learn in a pinch.

I would second Un Sospiro if it was not for the fact that so many pianist play it (and play it badly) now. uhh.... It's a beautiful piece though. Maybe you could look at Liszt concert etude La Leggierezza too.

Ondine is a great piece!!! I have the music and the poem that goes along with it, and the music is very hauntingly beautiful.

Bach: Prelude & Fugue #21 WTC I
Beethoven: Pathetique Sonata
Chopin: Polonaise-Fantaisie
Debussy: L'isle joyeuse

Etude: Chopin Op. 10 No. 1 (technically difficult but much repetition once mastered-easy to memorize-hard to forget once learned)

Ondine most certainly is an incredible piece--as is all of Gaspard De Le Nuit. It perfectly evokes well...water. And a lot of other emotions. The theme of the enire composition is a bit dark, however, and requires quite a bit of intrepretative, as well as technichal, skill. I remember the first time I played The entire thing for a competition. I played Ondine, Le Gibet, and...arghh, the memories of the frustration in learning Scarbo all the way through. It truly was one of those pianistic events that remain in your memory. But this is off topic.

[ October 25, 2001: Message edited by: SethW ]

Could you?