Has anyone here taken a Diploma in piano? I've passed grade 8 with merit and am wanting to start look at possibly taking DipABRSM.

The pieces that have caught my eye are Debussy's La plus que lente: Valse, although I'm not sure which of the Preludes I should do.

I am almost definitely doing Beethoven's 'Moonlight' Sonata- I think this is a senational piece of music.

I am also thinking about the Gerswhin Preludes.

Is this a good programme? Anyone have any suggestions to improve it?

Thank-you

Have you tried to count the time for the total no. of songs that you are going to play? The time limit is around 30- 40 mins. Just count how many mins left after playing the moonlight and the gerswhin preludes...
by the way, why not try some pieces in the Baroque period? I think choosing some pieces in J.S Back Well temperd clavier is quite a good choice. I did that last yr.
If you don't choose any baroque piece in the recital section, I guess the examinar will give you a piece from the Baroque period for sight reading in the Quick Study section. Last time, I didn't choose any in modern period, so the examiners gave me a 20thC songs for sight-reading....there are frequent changes in the time and key signature

Honest impression - very unbalanced towards a romantic/impressionistic feel. Check out the syllabus and have a close look at the guidance on programme choice at the Dip level - esp with regards to limits on a single composer's works. You're not morally obliged to have something "from every era", but I think you need to do some more perusing of the works list...

FYI my programme included Scarlatti, Haydn, Chopin, Beethoven and Sculthorpe.

Good luck - it's not easy choosing the programme, and then the hard stuff begins!

I would agree that it is a very unbalanced programme. You really should know this considering you've done the Dip (ABRSM) and LRSM on sax.

You really ought to substitute either the Gershwin or Debussy for a baroque piece e.g. Bach, Scarlatti etc

Out of interest can I ask what pieces you did for Dip and LRSM sax please?

gershwin's preludes are no longer on the syllabus. in your "own choice" option you could play ONE of the preludes, as you cannot play any more than one work for each composer, unless stated in the syllabus. so you have one prelude (about 2 mins of programme time, including a generous pause before/after surrounding pieces.) moonlight sonata will take about 15 minutes, and la plus que lente will take 5.

that makes a programme of about 23 mins, including breaks between pieces, so you need another 12 mins anyway. you could make that up with some baroque/classical pieces, since you've already covered impressionism, early romantic, and 20th century.

Gershwin preludes no longer on it? are you serious? right then I'll just play the 3rd one then...

Seriously, you'll probably need some more programme to make up the time.

Is it essential to play baroque? as I've just prepared pieces from Beethoven, Rachmaninoff, Gershwin and Hindemith? Do you get penalised for this?

They were taken off when the syllabus was revised; I think 'I've got Rhythm' and 'The Man I Love' have replaced them.

I agree with the others... it seems a tad unbalanced. I did 2 and 3 of the Gershwin preludes for my exam this year (they allow a year of playing the old syllabus). I would stick with the Debussy, and I think it would be nice if you had a Baroque piece in there, and then maybe a nice Brahms or Schubert. You don't HAVE to have something from each time period, but I think it says somewhere that the pieces should contrast in style, and what better way to do that then to represent the different styles of the major time periods? Also, while many Bach pieces can be challenging, they are really useful to learn, and can really help you grow as a pianist (in my humble opinion). They can also be very impressive - a fast prelude will show off good technique, and a fugue can show off your ability to bring out melodies and counter-melodies in different voice parts. Each time period comes with something else that you can "show off" about your talent... another good reason to pick one from each.

Just my opinion; feel free to disregard it if you want