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Various music school require a stock selection of pieces to be played for an audition. (Beethoven sonata, Bach Fugue etc.) I am just have a bit of trouble choosing the modern work. A sonata (like one by Prokofiev) might be too much for the program, since there is already another sonata. Would the Bach-Busoni Chaconne count as a modern, 20th century work, or would this not be applicable? Thanks!

Short answer: no. It's not what they're looking for (the Bach-Busoni is essentially a Romantic work). Ravel, Debussy, Prokovieff, Shostakovich, Bartok, and so forth is the standard stock (and plenty more ventursome works). Two by Prokovieff that I used, if I remember rightly back that far, for various auditions were the Suggestions diaboliques and the Toccata Op11.

Prokofiev Third Sonata also might be a good choice - short and flashy. I used it for my undergrad auditions and it came of well.

Consider Samuel Barber's Four Excursions. Fine music with much variety in a relatively short time.

I also need a large romantic work (ie not an etude or short piece). I am looking at the Chopin Scherzi and Ballades, and maybe a Liszt Rhaposdy (#12). Of the Chopin Scherzi and Ballades, which is one that is good for auditions? The first Ballade and 2nd Scherzo are perhaps too 'common', am I correct in this assumption or should I play them without fear of being penalized by the judges. (Since they are played frequently. I am still not sure on the modern work, would a Prokofiev sonata (#6 or 7) fit in well (I already have Beethoven's op.22), or should I search for a smaller piece?

Some 20th century suggestions:

Prokofiev - Sarcasms, Visions Fugitives, one of the ballet pieces (Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet)
Shostakovich Preludes (Op. 34)
Debussy - Preludes (Les Terrasse and Feux d'Artifice would be a fantastic pair!), Images (Poison d'Or is a personal favorite)
Ravel - Sonatine, something from Miroirs
Ginastera - Argentine Dances
Mompou - anything
Poulenc - anything (Maybe something from the Napoli suite?)
Stravinsky - Tango (kind of exotic and unusual)
Bartok - Suite, Op. 14
Ligeti - Musica Ricercata
Bolcom or Albright Rags
Adams - China Gates (Phrygian Gates is too long)

MAybe I can do Book I of the Debussy Preludes, Although I think they may be a bit too long. Or I can do some extreme music, like maybe something by Boulez (12 notations or maybe a sonata if I can learn it lol)

CrashTest,

What is the purpose of the audition you are planning for?

rvaga: The purpose is to get into a music school of course! They want a certain type of pieces inorder to evaluate one's abilities.

Well, if you're into extreme music, then you might try Carter (90+ is an interesting piece, and not terribly long) or Berio (I love the "6 Encores" - also short and very effective.)

There's also the old standbys - Schoenberg Op. 11 or 25, Webern Variations, or the Berg Sonata (a 9 minute piece with more passion and soul than most sonatas three times its length.)

If you haven't already, check out Frederic Rzewski. The Squares and Ballads are fantastic - the "Winnsboro Cotton Mill Blues" is probably the most popular.

Bolcom's Bagatelles are also lots of fun, as are his 12 New Etudes, which won a pulitzer prize.

Another great serial piece that's rarely played is Toshi Ichiyanagi's "Time Sequence" Ichiyanagi was a student of John Cage.

CrashTest, you didn't understand my question.

Let me preface it by letting you know that I'm a professor of piano (retired 3 years ago), and was part of the obligatory auditions each year.

What is the purpose of the audition you are planning for?

Think about it.

CrashTest,

I have a sense that you may be over-estimating your task.

My advice is to select works your know very well, are comfortable playing at a dead drop, and that allow you to demonstrate a range of technical and musical skills. Loading your audition up with large scale works will be of no clear advantage --sometimes, in fact, it can be a liability. For the Romantic work it may be better to prepare a Chopin polonaise, a couple of the etudes. Unless specifically called for in the audition guidelines, an entire ballade is nice, but unlikely any auditor will want to hear all of it.(This is true in listening to graduate applicants, and all the more so with undergraduates. My own tolerance peaks around 5 minutes ) If you want to play a ballade no1 is fine - I would worry too much about it being "over-played"-- no3 is also fairly popular.

About auditions! They are not recitals. Typically, what is wanted is, more or less, a "snapshot" or "sample" of the applicant's abilities. Don't be surprised if you don't play everything all the way through from start to finish. Likely as not, you'll play for a bit then be asked to move on to the next work -and you may or may not get to play all of the works you've prepared. (Every school and faculty has it's own way, I can only speak from my experience.)

Polish up your sight-reading abilities. As part of the audition, you may be asked to do some sight reading. How rigorous (or detailed) the audition process is varies form school to school. But find out as much as you can ahead of time. Call the admissions office/music department, I'm sure they'll be happy to outline the process.

Good Luck

I second Netizen's thoughts. The most important thing is to play well. Even more important is to play musically. Lots of applicants will play well technically, and some will even have scarily flawless technique. I believe that displaying an ability to play musically will set you apart, even if you miss some notes.

Rvaga asks an interesting question...

Ryan

Can I phone a friend?! The purpose is for the people listening to my audition to get a 'bird's eye view' of what I can do in a myriad of different ways i think, a little bit here, a little bit there. Right?!

For the modern piece, are they only looking for more popular composers? There is still composer who might not be too well known, and I would like to play his (2 short pieces, about 3 mins each) works as my modern piece. Should I contact whatever school I want to apply to and ask if it is ok, or should it not be a problem?

Who's the composer?

If it's a published work, it shouldn't be a problem.

I've always enjoyed Milhaud's "Saudades do Brasil" which has a nice Latin flavor. Or maybe his three "Rag Caprices", something with a little jazz overtone. There's also a boatload of Ginastera and Villa-Lobos stuff that's bound to expand the horizons a bit.

They're also usually a pretty big hit with juries (or so I've been led to believe )

The composer is Nicholas Flagello, ( www.Flagello.com ) and his works are published. I will look into a variety of modern composers before I make my choice, since this era is really the most diverse and full of different styles.

Well, now that we're in my favorite era...

Debussy: ANY of the preludes, but particularly:

Les collines d'Anacapri: difficult, not excessively, beautiful, impressive, and not too long.

Ce qu'a vu le vent d'Ouest: very difficult, very impressive, and a good choice overall. Careful about endurance.

La cathédrale engloutie: very good, but also a common choice. This is a maybe.

Les terraces...: VERY good one, difficult interpretively, and to balance the textures of sound, while maintaining the many ppps and pps.

Feux d'artifices: also great, flashy, difficult, and impressive sounding.

Or you can play any of his etudes, I prefer the study in arpeggios. Pretty, not too difficult, and one of the most musical of the set.

In Ravel's oeuvre:

Sonatine is a good piece, considering Ravel himself toured it in America. The first movement is popular, as is the third for its technical feats. Either way, you couldn't go wrong.

Stay away from the Pavane. While its beauty is apparent, it is very commonly played, it is not at all difficult.

Jeux d'eau: if you can handle it, bravo! A great piece, impressionistic, difficult, beautiful, and shows the talents of the pianists very well.

Miroirs: A landmark in 20th century piano music (also Gaspard de la nuit), most of these will do. Noctuelles is like a miniature etude, and is ok to play. Oiseaux tristes is very beautiful and somber, but... it is not difficult, and the judges would probably look down on it. Now, Un barque sur l'océan is WONDERFUL, it's difficult, pretty, challenging, but it's also incredibly long. Alborada del gracioso is the gem of the suite, with humor, Spanish flavor, and genuine fun. However, it is also the most difficult. If you try this, good luck with the repeated notes. The glissandoes aren't as bad as they look. La valléee des cloches is very Debussy, but it's not very good in the matters of competition.

Then there's Gaspard de la nuit. Play anything from there (except maybe Le gibet), you'll win a place in their hearts. Good luck though...

There.

For an audition you want something short but also something that will demonstrate your musicality to the board. I would therefore stay away from anything too technically difficult. JS's suggestion of something from Shostakovich's Opus 34 Preludes is a good recommendation. I would also add the Three Fantastic Dances to the list of possibilities. Pretty much anything that DDS wrote (other than what he had to write for the Musician's Union) demands a lot of musical savy from the performer and you would be held in high regard to play it well. Remember, the flashier the music you select the more subjectively critical will be your listners. IMHO musical subletly is the key to winning over the crtical listener not pyrotechnics.