I dont know which piece to choose for list c from the new grade 8 syllabus because I've listened to thm all and don't have a favourite. Has anybody played them and know which pieces are the easiest and hardest? I have qute small hands so is there a particular piece I might find difficult because of this?
Laura x

I would say the easiest, is the Grieg Nocturne, provided you can cope with the cross rhythms ie 2 agianst 3 type. You could also look at the Chopin Nocturne

The Albeniz is pretty straightforward, and is very suitable for small hands.

I chose the Chopin, but like mentioned above.... the Grieg is also very nice.....
I also like the Brahms and the Gershwin.... but choose which you like.

Laura, out of interest, what piece have you chosen for list A? I also have small hands and I really liked the scarlatti but the chords are massive. I hated the bach and mendolssen so I'm searching further afield.....

I think I might choose the gershwin or greig- my teacher thinks I'll like them both but I'll have a listen first!
The chopin is really nice and I played through it, but I play a lot of chopin and would like to have a change for the exam.

I'm not Laura, but I've got small hands and I'm doing the Shostakovich. There are some apparently big stretches in the Fugue, but they are pedalled. The main problem is in the Prelude, where it is marked legato, and unpedalled, so moving from note to note can be tricky where they're far apart. But it's manageable.

I'm doing A1 (Bach) which Im not that keen on. Has anyone played C4 by Ravel?
Laura x

The Ravel's too stretchy for me to do it justice. It's not that I can't reach the chords, more that I can't move smoothly between them. I'm sad because I really wanted to play it.

Heavens, I wouldnt have tried the Shost Fugue with small hands. Much of it is common chords, but its a struggle to get the lower note each time with small hands, or are you passing your first finger over ?
The notes arent too difficult really, but I often tend to 'get lost' somewhere in the middle. At least the prelude is easy enough. A brave choice, good luck

We've experimented with a variety of fingerings so far, and have one or two workable ones, including passing the first finger over. I confess I haven't played it for a few weeks (been looking at a lot of accompaniments) so I can't remember offhand what we'd settled to do.

I know what you mean about getting lost in the middle.

I love the poulenc toccata!!Is anyone else going to do this?

I disagree; the Albeniz is one of the most difficult pieces on the Grade 8 list and, according to my teacher, is actually way above Grade 8 standard. I wanted to play it but she wouldn't let me!

Why? In what way did she see it as difficult?

I only have an octave reach, but I'm playing the Lizst one. Its such a great piece - I love that one!!

My teacher said that to play the Albeniz convincingly, up to the very fast speed required, and without it sounding 'laboured', was very hard. The notes may not be difficult but to get them sounding free and easy at Grade 8 level is, apparently. She seriously advised me against playing this piece and in fact, recently gave it to one of her most advanced pupils as a concert piece. I do love it, though, and hope to play it in the future



I played the Liszt and got 29 for it. I loved it too, and it was relatively easy.

.What did you do for lists A and B? I presume you are talking about the Liszt from the 2005/2006 syllabus

I love the Mendelssohn Prelude and Fugue for List A. The Haydn is taking shape for List B. For List C, we need a complete contrast - so would prefer to pick a 20th century work if possible - would prefer to bypass Chopin, Grieg, Brahms. Any suggestions for an ideal "partner piece" with the above? Degree of difficulty is not a prime consideration at this level. For example, has anyone tried the Moeran?

I'd go for the Ravel Minuet (from Sonatine). I manage that OK. The Poulenc Toccata is fun, but not easy!

The Ravel is nice, also the Martinu is a cute little thing. I do like the Turina, though perhaps it is a little too much with the Mendelssohn?

i am doing A1 bach, B3 mozart and C6 copland

I'm doing the Scarlatti (alternative piece - not from the book)
The Mozrt K330 and the Gershwin

There is a recording of me playing the Bach on the forum recordings site (not quite a polished performance).

The Ravel is gorgeous!! But I think you would need quite big hands - I can stretch a 10th (9th comfortably) and I still find it quite hard going between the opening chords! But it is a really lovely piece!

ditto!

Does anyone else find the lack of recent music in the ABRSM Grade 8 piano syllabus depressing and/or shocking? In list C of the current syllabus there are just two pieces (out of 15) by living composers, born in 1924 and 1945 respectively. In the new syllabus there's only ONE (out of 16), If the silver bird could speak, by Eleanor Alberga, born 1949, which I already know and like from having met it in one of the Spectrum books. This syllabus originates with the same organisation which was willing to publish (so far) five Spectrum collections of brand new pieces, and has just won a prestigious award for its music Web site Sound Junction http://www.soundjunction.org/default.aspa which offers free music composition software for people to explore. On the one hand they are offering everyone the opportunity to compose, and on the other failing to encourage their exam candidates to explore the huge range of music that other people (who have spent years honing their composing skills and are trying to make a living from composing) have been writing recently.

The growth of COMA (Contemporary Music Making for Amateurs) http://www.coma.org/ over the past 13 years has made it clear that there are lots of amateur musicians "out there" who are fascinated by the challenges of writing and interpreting brand new music. I doubt if most of them will look twice at backward-looking exam syllabuses. They are too busy living their musical lives in the 21st century.