Hi guys,
I'm sitting for my DipABRSM for the first time next month, and im really nervous. so my program is:
Beethoven- sonata pathetique (overplayed, I know, but gotta love it!)
Brahms- rhapsody op 79 no2
Debussy- clair de lune
Copland- cat and mouse
The thing is, I leaned away from baroque and more toward romantic/contemporary stuff. My teacher thought it was fine, though in retrospect it prob wasn't a good idea. If the examiner asks why I chose this more contemporary program, what can I say that doesn't sound lame, besides that I just don't enjoy baroque music as much? I don't want to make the impression that i can't handle other styles of music.

oh well, if anything, it's the QS that will fail me.
Thanks:)

"Not liking" baroque music is probably not the best way to answer - instead talk about why the programme you chose is balanced without reference to baroque. You've clearly covered classical with Beethoven and romantic with Brahms. Debussy and Copland might both fall under the vague and (in my opinion) rather useless "20th-century" label but they obviously represent very different styles in 20th century music. I actually love baroque and early classical music, but my programme started even later than yours - my earliest piece was Schubert D. 664, which was composed in 1817 or so, while Pathetique was composed in 1798. The first question the examiners asked me was why I didn't have baroque in my programme, and I responded by explaining how the four composers I had represented (Schubert, Liszt, Debussy, Bartok) represented different styles and constituted a balanced programme. Far from penalizing me, the examiners complimented the "well-thought out" programme and I passed both the recital and the viva by a healthy margin.

ah okay that sounds great. Thanks for the advice!

In my flute DipABRSM last year, although I really like baroque and classical music, my programme consisted of a piece by Faure(1898), Hindemith(1936), Hue(1913) and Chaminade (1902),my reasoning was that I wanted to show the different styles of flute playing after the boehm system had been fully developed and also to show some of the different techniques that the flute can do and the different colours and moods that it can show. So as long as you have good reasoning, I am sure that it wont be so much of a problem, i was worried about it beforehand, but it was too late by that point, and I still passed!

Just read this and it definitely rang a bell with me - I was in the same situation for my dipABRSM a few years back (I played Schubert, Debussy, Rachmaninov and Scriabin). The examiner simply asked me what period I had not covered in my recital and could I name some composers from that period. She even reassured me that it wasn't at all a problem, so I'm sure she didn't deduct any marks - I got a high pass for both the viva voce and the recital. So I think you don't need to worry Good luck with the exam, let us know how it goes!

Hey ticklingtheivories,


I noticed you had Clair De Lune in your program. Are you sure that it is Dip ABRSM standard? I learnt it in two weeks for a performance roughly one week ago (after just recently getting back into Classical piano to further emphasise my point) and my guess is that it is Grade 7 standard, Grade 8 at best. Have you got own choice approval for it?

Thanks,

GCS

I'm guessing it's too late to pick another piece, but GCS brings up a good point. Claire de Lune is on Trinity's list of pieces that are NOT approved for any level of diploma (including ATCL which is more or less equivalent to DipABRSM). This doesn't necessarily mean that the examiners will mark you down for it if you play it (and everything else) well, but if you happen to know another slightly more difficult piece that you can prepare in time it might be worth considering.