Which piano exam pieces to choose

Katey13

Hi. Can anybody help me. I need to choose 3 piano pieces for my Royal Academy of Music Senior Cert exam. There are 3 lists, and I need to choose a piece from each list. I have listened to them all, but would like advice on which would be less technically demanding etc than others. I have 3 young children and my practice time is limited. I completed my Grade 8 exam 20 years ago and have only pottered around on the piano since then, so I have a lot of work to do. Any advice?:o

List A
Bach Any Prelude and Fugue from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier books 1 and 2 (Urtext-HenleVerlag)
Bach Partita no 2: Sinfonia (Henle)
Bach Two consecutive movements from Italian Concerto in F BWV 971 (Henle)
Bach Prelude from any English Suite (Urtext - Henle Verlag)
Scarlatti Any two contrasting Sonatas (Editio Musica Budapest/Boosey &Hawkes)

List B
Haydn Sonata in E flat major Hob XVI no 49: first movement (WienerUrtext)
Haydn Sonata in C minor Hob XVI no 20: second and third movements(Wiener Urtext)
Mozart Sonata in A major K 331: first movement (Henle)
Beethoven Sonata in D major op 10 no 3: first movement (Henle)
Beethoven Sonata in C minor op 13 “Pathetique”: first movement (Henle)

List C
Chopin Prelude in D flat major op 28 no 15 “Raindrop” (PWM/Schott-MDS)
J Gibson Moladh go Deo le Dia Piano album v (CMC)
Grieg Wedding Day at Troldhaugen op 65 no 6 (Peters Edition)
Debussy Preludes Book 1: no 2 Voiles (Universal Edition)
Messiaen Preludes: no 7 Plainte Calme (Durand)

Doshea3

Hi Katey,

Speaking as a piano teacher myself, I'd recommend the following:

List A:
Do either the Bach Prelude and Fugue (which one? hmm...) or the 2 Scarlatti sonatas. Problem is you have 48 of the Bach to choose from and 550 of the Scarlatti! Let me have a think...the Bach D major, A-flat major and B-flat major P&Fs from Book I are manageable and pretty good. I recall F minor is good from Book II though I don't remember how the fugue goes (the prelude is famous). E-flat from Book II is good but the fugue is tricky enough if you're new to the form. Avoid doing the famous C major from Book I—it's very difficult to impress with the prelude, and the fugue is REALLY hard (much harder than it seems at first as it's contrapuntally very involved). Scarlatti...there's so many of them to choose from! Best to do a slow one and a fast one, maybe one major and the other minor.

The first and second movements of the Italian Concerto are tricky but not too bad, but the third is absolutely murderous. The English Suite preludes are mostly difficult and the Sinfonia from Partita No. 2 is tricky enough.


List B:
I don't know the Haydn C minor sonata, but the E-flat sonata and the two Beethovens are all murderous!! The Mozart on the other hand is very good and very manageable, so I'd definitely recommend that one.


List C:
I'd recommend the Chopin as it's one of those pieces I give to students around post-Grade VIII standard. It's a very good piece and quite manageable. Think the Gibson is quite hard, and the Grieg is REALLY difficult (deceptively so). The Debussy and Messiaen are both manageable also if you prefer them to the Chopin.


Hope that helps. Any questions please don't hesitate to ask!

Katey13

Hi D,

Thank you so much for your advice. That was exactly the type of information I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to answer me.

funky penguin

Hey Katey,

First, listen to Doshea3, he always knows what he's talking about!

Second, along with his recomendations, I'd strongly advice doing what you REALLY want to do. It goes a long way in helping you do well and more importantly, you will enjoy it!

Doshea3

Hi Katey,

You're most welcome. Glad I could be of help.

Funky P—Flattery will get you everywhere.

Katey13

Have started working on the Chopin and it really is lovely. Even stumbling through the first part of it, you can really feel it taking over. Am delighted with it & can't wait to be able to play it well! I was also surprised that after 20 years since G8, and not much in the way of playing since then, that I was able to get through the first page... certainly not well, but there's hope for me yet!

I had to buy a scales & arpeggios book to remember how to do melodic minors, sixth aparts, double octaves, etc. I had a complete blank, then was thrilled with myself for putting in a good bit of work over the w/e and had practiced all similar motion scales in major, harmonic and melodic forms. And, I could actually do them quite fast & even, which again, after 20 yrs I felt a few feet taller!

But then we were up the mountains yesterday with the kids and I remembered that I had only practiced all the white keys and had completely forgotten about the black ones!!!! I have to say, I didn't come down that mountain in the same spirit that I went up it!
It's also quite difficult to concentrate with a 2 year old who has decided that when Mom is at the piano she will tinkle away at one end!
My 8 year old son came in yesterday close to tears and asked me to stop playing immediately. Naturally, I had a face on me as I was sure he was slagging me off, but he gave me a big hug and told me that he couldn't believe I could play the piano so well and that he was going to burst into tears if I continued... ahhh - in his innocence he thought that flying through a few scales was brilliant!:rolleyes:

Doshea3

Katey: That's lovely about your son! Congratulations on doing so well with the scales—they're not easy! You'll be through all of them in no time.

The Chopin is a great piece—glad you're enjoying it! Any thoughts on Bach?

Katey13

Hi D,

Am nearly finished the Chopin and am just starting var 3 in the Mozart. You're right, it's not too hard but quite addictive when you start practicing. Had to use to metronome to get the timings right.

Am now looking again for one from list A. Am going to sit down this afternoon and start listening to them on utube. I'd prefer one not too long, as I'll be wrecked and then having the long Mozart to do afterwards will kill me altogether during the exam! There's far too much choice, and I understand that some of these pieces will be usable for the Diploma.

Will scoot through some of your recommendations above first.

funky penguin

RE the List A......

I'd pick a Bach P & F, namely his G Minor from Book 2. The prelude is cool (hard to get the French Overture rhythm consistent) but the Fugue has one of the coolest subjects I've ever heard.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
BIAS!

Katey13

Hi FP

Listened to a load of pieces from the list yesterday, and went with your earlier advice, which was to go with one I liked. Had decided on P&F so listened to them all. I was surprised to realise I recognised the prelude in b major. I could remember playing it before (or maybe a simpler version) for a previous exam, so I decided to go with that one again. Discovered that I don't really like the Baroque style, which didn't help matters and think Bach went a bit nuts writing p&fs in every key! However, needs must! Thanks very much for the advice!

funky penguin

No problem, best of luck with it!