I've just been asked to accompany Vivaldi's "La Notte" flute concerto at a local festival. I've now played through the accompaniment (and read through the solo line) and it's the most boring piece I ever remember coming across at this level. Even with its original accompaniment, which I expect was for strings and continuo, I would expect to find it extremely boring. I haven't so far come across much music by Vivaldi that really makes me enthusiastic, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to teach this, let alone play it. Definitely what I think of as "cooking Vivaldi" (analagous with cooking sherry).

Mind you, there are only two pieces in the current ABRSM G8 flute list A that I would even consider as exam material, as only two were originally written for flute and keyboard. All the rest are concertos or concerto movements. I do like to get as close as possible to the composer's intentions, and I don't see turning a technicolour accompaniment into a black and white one as compatible with that. Teaching a concerto or a movement from one to someone who is going to be able to play it with its original accompaniment is a different matter of course, with the piano accompaniment just a tool in that process.

I quite agree with you about the Vivaldi. When I was choosing my DipABRSM programme my teacher said something like, 'If you've heard one Vivaldi concerto, you've heard them all'. As for the other options, I tend to try and avoid the Handel (like the Vivaldi, why do four or five different movements when you can do one or two?). If I avoided Concerto reductions as well it would leave only the JS Bach.

Concerto movements do seem to be common at Grade 8 for woodwind instruments. As I'm not having to accompany them I'm a bit more positive towards them. Although I've heard rather enough of the Blavet for now (student taking the exam this term). If I can manage to do it subtly I steer students towards the JS Bach, the Quantz or the Schubert in List A.

Not sure I would put it quite as strongly as that!

Yes, nothing but the best is left (in my opinion!). The last G8 candidate I entered myself rather than accompanying for someone else played it, and I think she loved it as much as I did.

Do you think it's just laziness on the Board's part?

I played that one last term and shan't mind if I never see/hear it again. Until today I think it could have been the subject of my thread, though I didn't feel as strongly about it as I do about the Vivaldi.

I don't know the Quantz, but I wouldn't go for the Schubert if I could avoid it, because it was written for such a totally different instrument - described somewhere as a "bowed guitar", so more or less 'cello range. I really don't believe the flute is so short of original repertoire at an appropriate standard that it's necessary to put arrangements in the syllabus.

What would you include on the Grade 8 List A syllabus if you were devising it yourself? (An open question, not just addressed to DaCapo.)

Oh boy, but do I sympathise?

I want to play music written for flute and piano, not flute and a bad reduction of an orchestral part.

Hey-ho.

Steve

A little off topic Steve, but have you had to play the horrendous and virtually unplayable Peters Edition of a Mozart violin concerto in G?

This is a common view with regards to performing concerto movements with the piano. Personally I try to avoid them. Grade 8 clarinet list A has a few of them too - Mozart, Weber, Spohr, and Crussel was on the last. I'd rather do something actually written for clarinet and piano. Orchestral reductions are just so unidiomatic.

Those of you who have not seen this edition might not understand Dangermouse' reference.

The transcriber attempted to fit absolutely everything the orchestra played into the piano part. The result was a ludicrous part that only an idiot would attempt to play as written.

So yes, I have seen it. I just laughed at it

At the other end of the scale, for sympathetic arrangements see the Novello edition of Mozart's flute concerti. Robert Scott arranged the orchestral part as a piano piece rather than an orchestral reduction. The result is both playable and musically pleasing.

Steve