Hello!

The new syllabus for Grade 8 piano seems to be even more difficult than last time. I feel the Chopin polonaise is too difficult for Grade 8, although it was last set for this grade in 1982 (when I did Grade 1) What does everyone else think?

Best wishes

Hugh

I can't seem to manage the octaves in the polonaise! My hand's aren't big enough!
I'm doing the beethoven sonata in Emin, and probably the debussy arabesque.
Not sure about list A!, but I like a lot of the C list, and the B list, so I'm pleased!

I'm finding the Beethoven quite difficult. Tthe left hand from bar 55, where its fast and repetative, i keep missing afew notes because I have to play it so quickly. Do you think this is a big problem or would the examiner notice that I missed one or two notes,(not that i'm too lazy to perfect it, it just seems to be phyiscally difficult for me.)
Freedom

thinking of re-taking my grade 8 but you lot are putting me off!!
Would someone mind listing a few of the pieces so I can make up my mind whether to buy the book?
Much appreciated.

QUOTE (Mrs Beethoven @ Jul 6 2004, 08:51 AM)

thinking of re-taking my grade 8 but you lot are putting me off!!

I am curious as to why you want to re-take your grade 8. Didn't I read in another thread that you had a very good mark?

Mrs. B: The syllabus came out in the May issue of Libretto, which you can download from the website.

Freedom: Well, I share your point, I keep getting cramp in my LH little finger
However, the LH is really essential as an accomp. to a fairly bland melody in the right. I'm sure if you missed a few notes is wouldn't be that serious, but keep working at it and I'm sure that your hand will be able to cope in the end.

Trio - unfortunately i only scraped through!
pf- my old computer doesn't do downloads!!
not contemplating going to Uni or anything just for personal reasons.

I agree that the Chopin Polonaise is extremely tricky for a Grade 8 piece... not just becuase of all the octaves everywhere, but becuase it's so -long- as well, and the left hand part in the middle section is a tad tricky. As well as that, I don't think its all that great a piece, and I'm normally a huge fan of the Chopin Polonaises.

I think that out of the C list the Debussy arabesque has my vote... even if I'll have to work on my quaver against triplet rhythms a little. I find the more I think about getting them sounding good the worse I get. By the end of a practise my head hurts.

What's everyone else playing for the A and B sections? I'm still undecided for my B section, and I'm quite worried. I would have used the last syllabus if it weren't for the fact that I couldn't find a classical piece I liked enough to settle down on...

Cf

please please please someone post the new syllabus in full here - i can't look it up on libretto because my computers gone crazy and wont open PDF files aaaarrrrrrrggggh! need to see the new syllabus............

GRADE 8 (The following are the pieces in the ABRSM G8 Book)

A1)Allemande (Partita No.4 In D Bwv 828) [Bach, Johann Sebastian]

A2)Prelude And Fugue In E Flat Op.87 No.19 [Shostakovich, Dmitri]

A3)Sonata In D Kp.535 [Scarlatti, Domenico]


B1)Allegro Assai (Sonata In F Minor Wq.57/6) [Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel]

B2)Allegro Moderato (Sonata In C K.330) [Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]

B3)First Movement (Sonata In E Minor Op.90) [Beethoven, Ludwig Van]


C1)Impromptu Op.25 No.1 [Arensky, Anton]

C2)Autumn Crocus [Mayerl, Billy]

C3)Intermezzo (Faschingsschwank Aus Wien) Op.26 No.4 [Schumann, Robert]

C4)Dem Andenken Pefofis [Liszt, Franz]

C5)Bagatelle No.3 [Rawsthorne, Alan]

C6)Romance [Takemitsu, Toru]

Hope this will let you calm down a bit splunket

thanks a lot sonofjamie, do you know if there is an overlap period in 2005 when i can still use pieces from the 2004 syllabus?

If you're in the UK then you can use the pieces in the first session of 2005 and then can't in subsequent sessions. If you're not in the UK I believe there are some countries (which only have one exam session a year) in which you can use them for any exam taken in 2005.

. . . . and this is a full list of pieces (in alphabetical order)

B6)Allegro (Sonata In D Hob.Xvi/24) [Haydn, Franz Joseph]

B7)Allegro (Sonata In E Flat Hob.Xvi/49) [Hadyn, Franz Joseph]

B5)Allegro (Sonata In G Op.37 No.2) [Clementi, Muzio]

B1)Allegro Assai (Sonata In F Minor Wq.57/6) [Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel]

B2)Allegro Moderato (Sonata In C K.330) [Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus]

B8)Allegro Moderato (Sonata In E D.459) [Schubert, Franz]

A1)Allemande (Partita No.4 In D Bwv 828) [Bach, Johann Sebastian]

C9)Arabesque No.1 In E [Debussy, Claude]

C2)Autumn Crocus [Mayerl, Billy]

C5)Bagatelle No.3 [Rawsthorne, Alan]

C10)Barcarolle No.4 In A Flat Op.44 [Faure, Gabriel]

C7)Castilla (Suite Espagnole Op.47) [Albeniz, Issac]

C4)Dem Andenken Pefofis [Liszt, Franz]

B3)First Movement (Sonata In E Minor Op.90) [Beethoven, Ludwig Van]

A6)Fuga No.6 (Ludus Tonalis) and Interludium (Ludus Tonalis) [Hindemith, Paul]

A7)Fughetta In B Minor (Sonata For Piano) [Lekeu, Guillaume]

C13)Idylle Op.7 No.1 [Medtner, Nikolay]

C1)Impromptu Op.25 No.1 [Arensky, Anton]

C3)Intermezzo (Faschingsschwank Aus Wien) Op.26 No.4 [Schumann, Robert]

C11)No.6 (Six Little Pieces) [Gregson, Edward]

C12)No.7 And No.9 (Kaleidoscopes) [Lees, Benjamin]

C15)Nocturne No.1 In C [Poulenc, Francis]

C8)Polonaise In C Minor Op.40 No.2 [Chopin, Frederic]

A5)Prelude And Fuga (Suite No.8 In F Minor Hwv 433) [Handel, George Frideric]

A4)Prelude And Fugue In A Minor Bwv 889 [Bach, Johann Sebastian]

A2)Prelude And Fugue In E Flat Op.87 No.19 [Shostakovich, Dmitri]

C6)Romance [Takemitsu, Toru]

C14)Scherzo In E Minor Op.16 No.2 [Mendelssohn, Felix]

A3)Sonata In D Kp.535 [Scarlatti, Domenico]

A8)Sonata In D Minor Kp.444 [Scarlatti, Domenico]

. . . hope you can now breath normally again splunket

as AnotherPianist says, you can use your old 2004 pieces for the first session of 2005.
The above pieces are from the new syllabus and can therefore be used up until the first session of 2007.

I can't imagine Debussy's Arabesque as a grade 8 piece! If I took it for my grade 8 exam, I would be sure that I could get a higher mark!

I can't comment on the Polonaise because it isn't in the book I have but I do like:

List A: Bach: Allemande
List B: Mozart: Allegro Moderato
List C: Mayerl: Autumn Crocus

These are the ones I'm playing at the moment - it could all change before the exam though. Whatever happens I wont be playing the Shostakovich - I HATE SHOSTAKOVICH!

I haven't bought the book yet but I'm going to buy it later.

~tremolololo~

I like the A3 Scarlatti, the B2 Mozart (my hands aren't big enough for the Beethoven) and at the moment leaning towards A1/A4...
Just how fast is the Mozart supposed to go...?

The Debussy "Arabesque" is only rated as intermediate in the latest issue of "pianist" magazine. (out of the 3 ratings: Beginner/Intermediate/advanced. Pianist mag set high standards- and possibly leave the beginner a little frustrated when they can't get past the fisrt few bars of the "easy" pieces (some with 4 flats/4sharps etc.


Anthony