DipABRSM Recital Programme Options

[wurlitzer]

I am thinking about doing a DipABRSM (piano performance) next summer and I am wondering about the options for the recital part of the exam... On page 7 of the diploma syllabus it would suggest that up to 7 minutes of the 35 minute recital can be made up of suitably difficult pieces which are not on the list in the syllabus. Am I understanding this correctly, or can the whole recital be made up of pieces not on the list?

[Louise H]

The majority of your recital must come from repertoire on the list. You can have own choice repertoire but it must not take up more than 7 minutes.

Enjoy choosing your programme...

[fsharpminor]

Yes thats right, for balance you should try to program 3 or maybe even 4 pieces (no more) from different periods, eg baroque, classical, early romantic, late romantic, and 20th Century

[RoseRodent]

The majority of your recital must come from repertoire on the list. You can have own choice repertoire but it must not take up more than 7 minutes.

Enjoy choosing your programme...

I believe the rules are 20% of the total. If your total programme is under 35 minutes (there is some flexibility for you to play a marginally longer or shorter programme) then your own choice repertoire must be shorter too, i.e. if your total programme is 33 minutes you only get 6.6 minutes of own choice. Carefully check that the piece you want to choose has never appeared on any grade syllabus with any board, if it turns out to have been a 1992 grade 8 piece you will get penalised for that. Have fun, though, I think examiners must be secretly pleased to hear something different every now and then.

[wurlitzer]

Thanks all! In that case, I have a rough idea of pieces I would quite like to play:

1) Mozart Sonata in D K284 (~24 minutes)
2) Field Nocturne No. 1 in A (~5.5 minutes) [This is not in the recommended list]
3) Chopin Etude in F (~2.5 minutes)
4) Rachmaninov Prelude in E flat Op. 27 No. 6 (~3 minutes)

Do you think this covers a sufficiently broad range of styles to not be penalised in the exam? To be perfectly honest, my ideal programme would be:

1) Mozart Sonata in D K284 (~24 minutes)
2) Field Nocturne No. 1 in A (~5.5 minutes)
3) Chopin Variations Op. 12 (~8 minutes)

But I am a little concerned that this may be penalised as it only really covers 1775-1833, but at the same time, my other suggestion has a big gap between 1840-1900ish (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) How much will examiners penalise this?

My teacher has warned me that most people do badly on the quick study so has set me away to play through all the grade 3 piano exam pieces for the past 10 years, imagining it was my quick study. Next month we move onto grade 4, then grade 5, 6, 7 and 8... Hopefully that will sufficiently prepare me! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ph34r.gif)

[sbhoa]

I am a little concerned that this may be penalised as it only really covers 1775-1833, but at the same time, my other suggestion has a big gap between 1840-1900ish (IMG:style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif) How much will examiners penalise this?

What does the syllabus say?
Does it ask for a comprehensive range of period or does it ask for a range of style and technique?

[ansatz496]

Hmm... personally I think Chopin (I assume you mean op. 25 no. 2?) and Field might be too similar (for DipABRSM particularly, at higher levels it may not matter). The gap between 1840 and 1900 with the Rachmaninov, particularly with respect to those two works isn't a problem at all - in fact I think it creates the opposite problem, because that prelude is also pretty similar to those Chopin and Field (slow/soft and romantic, albeit late). That doesn't mean you shouldn't include it alongside either Chopin/Field, but adding something that provides a greater contrast ("impressionist" like Debussy, more percussive like Prokofiev or Bartok) would be nice. You don't have any baroque, I don't think that's a problem at all as long as you provide enough contrast. My program was

Debussy: Ballade (late romantic/early impressionist)
Schubert: Sonata in A major, D. 664 (late classical/early romantic)
Liszt: Sonetto 123 (high romantic)
Bartok: Nos. 5 and 6 from Bulgarian Dances

There wasn't all that much contrast in terms of time period, but plenty in style, at least as I hear it. However, if I had used a more romantically inclined 20th-century composer than Bartok I think the degree of contrast may have been too low.

[fsharpminor]

Hm I agree with Ansatz. Chopin was influenced by Field. I would normally want to include a Baroque piece but not absolutley necessary. Either do this or put in something much later, either later 19th or 20th C.

[Czerny]

Carefully check that the piece you want to choose has never appeared on any grade syllabus with any board, if it turns out to have been a 1992 grade 8 piece you will get penalised for that.

Where does it say that? I'm sure one of the Mozart sonatas (?K319) which is on the DipABRSM syllabus was on the Grade 8 list a few years ago (albeit only the first movement).

[Louise H]

Carefully check that the piece you want to choose has never appeared on any grade syllabus with any board, if it turns out to have been a 1992 grade 8 piece you will get penalised for that.

Where does it say that? I'm sure one of the Mozart sonatas (?K319) which is on the DipABRSM syllabus was on the Grade 8 list a few years ago (albeit only the first movement).

I don't remember reading anything about being penalised for using a piece which was on a previous grade 8 syllabus. How far back would you have to look - 10 years/20 years - you couldn't even get hold them to check that far back? The marking criteria at dip level is also not the same as at grade 8 as the examiners are looking at the performance as a whole as well as the detail and interpretation/communication of the music.

[jessy]

Carefully check that the piece you want to choose has never appeared on any grade syllabus with any board, if it turns out to have been a 1992 grade 8 piece you will get penalised for that.

Where does it say that? I'm sure one of the Mozart sonatas (?K319) which is on the DipABRSM syllabus was on the Grade 8 list a few years ago (albeit only the first movement).

I don't remember reading anything about being penalised for using a piece which was on a previous grade 8 syllabus. How far back would you have to look - 10 years/20 years - you couldn't even get hold them to check that far back? The marking criteria at dip level is also not the same as at grade 8 as the examiners are looking at the performance as a whole as well as the detail and interpretation/communication of the music.

I think RoseRodent is right here as I also remember reading something about not being allowed to play a piece which had been on the syllabus of a lower grade, but it can only apply to that particular board as (certainly for violin) many pieces on the ATCL repertoire list appear on the list for LRSM. As to how far back you might be expected to check, the only thing you can do is ask the board for some guidance.

However, I'm not sure what board it was I read this for - could be AB, TG or LCM !

[Deborah]

From memory, any own-choice piece must be "of an acceptable level of difficulty". Having been a Grade VIII piece in the past doesn't in itself disqualify a piece; in fact, if I was so inclined I could offer the two accompanied pieces I played for my Grade VIII clarinet as part of an LRSM programme without going off-syllabus (although of course I would need to be playing at LRSM standard rather than Grade VIII (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)).

As ever in times of doubt, check the syllabus, and if it's still not clear, check with the diploma team at ABRSM HQ.

[vee]

[/quote]

I think RoseRodent is right here as I also remember reading something about not being allowed to play a piece which had been on the syllabus of a lower grade, but it can only apply to that particular board as (certainly for violin) many pieces on the ATCL repertoire list appear on the list for LRSM. As to how far back you might be expected to check, the only thing you can do is ask the board for some guidance.

However, I'm not sure what board it was I read this for - could be AB, TG or LCM !
[/quote]

TG has a guideline around own choice pieces not being on previous grade/certificate lists- however they do say that you only need to verify with the current syllabus. But where a movement from a sonata has been listed on a grade syllabus, its acceptable to offer the whole work in the Dip. In fact some sonatas in the A dip syllabus of TG have the first/ final movements in grade 8.

I played Schubert's sonata in A minor D 537's final movement for my Grade 8. The whole work is listed as part of approved repertoire for ATCL. Wish I'd noticed it before I started putting together my ATCL programme though! Would have saved me a lot of time if I had picked the same work. If you already know the fast movement , the slow movements are relatively easier.

[ansatz496]

If you think it's the right level of difficulty, it satisfies the rules (either on syllabus or <7 min), and you can play it to a high standard, it's almost certainly fine. In terms of difficulty, the harder selections in grade 8 and the easier selections on the Dip syllabus are indistinguishable, but at the dip level a higher standard of presentation is expected. Trust your own and your teacher's judgment, and certainly don't bother trawling through old syllabi. It might be a good idea to check 2011-12 and 2013-14 though, since you don't want to use something that is ostentatiously considered "grade 8" difficulty by AB.

[Lucysop]

Carefully check that the piece you want to choose has never appeared on any grade syllabus with any board, if it turns out to have been a 1992 grade 8 piece you will get penalised for that.

Where does it say that? I'm sure one of the Mozart sonatas (?K319) which is on the DipABRSM syllabus was on the Grade 8 list a few years ago (albeit only the first movement).

I don't remember reading anything about being penalised for using a piece which was on a previous grade 8 syllabus. How far back would you have to look - 10 years/20 years - you couldn't even get hold them to check that far back? The marking criteria at dip level is also not the same as at grade 8 as the examiners are looking at the performance as a whole as well as the detail and interpretation/communication of the music.

I think RoseRodent is right here as I also remember reading something about not being allowed to play a piece which had been on the syllabus of a lower grade, but it can only apply to that particular board as (certainly for violin) many pieces on the ATCL repertoire list appear on the list for LRSM. As to how far back you might be expected to check, the only thing you can do is ask the board for some guidance.

However, I'm not sure what board it was I read this for - could be AB, TG or LCM !

Hi
DipABRSM does not apply the rule re "about not being allowed to play a piece which had been on the syllabus of a lower grade". This does apply for TG however but not for ABRSM. One example I can quote is that "Verdure Clad, The Creation; Haydn" was on my Grade 8 syllabus ABRSM but now is on FRSM list. THey really don't mind what the own choice is, so long as it fits in the programme and is being performed at the appropriate standard. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)