I was wondering if the organists out there (or anyone really) an opinion on this.

I realise that the DipABRSM is no pushover, but in the past as an organist I've been told that on that instrument it's a waste of time and I should do an ARCO first.

However, I actually enjoy playing repertoire rather than merely going over score reading, harmonisation and transposition again and again and again.... so I was wondering whether (as the title says) this Diploma is worth doing.

I was going to do DipABRSM this September, but there have been a few complications with my University place so I've been a bit busy sorting that out instead.

Thanks in advance for any comments, helpful or otherwise.

I suppose it all depends on your career goal. If you want to get a good church job, an ARCO would be more useful than the DipABRSM or ATCL. Have you considered doing both the ARCO and DipABRSM as the two exams have different emphasis?

By the way, what repertoire are you working on? My Dip exam is about two months away.

ARCO requires more work than Dip, simply because of the preparation required for the two x 3 hr written papers. Ironically of course, the actual playing of pieces in ARCO is woefully short - perhaps 15 mins or so compared to the requirements for Dip.

I enjoyed them both, but as previous correspondents have said ARCO will have more value if you're chasing a church job.

Since you're just off to university, why not do both. You've got loads of time!

Thanks for the help, before I squirmed out of doing the Dip, I was planning on doing the following programme:

Bach Piece d'orgue,
Mendelssohn C minor Prelude and Fugue Op.37
Hindemith Sonata 2

All very Germanic. The programme may have been a tad short so I was going to add something North German too, maybe one of the Buxtehude Praeludia (wanted to do Bruhns Great E minor but it's just a bit too long).

What were you going to do for yours?

Hindemith's Sonata No. 2 is on the LRSM list, and it is too long to be the work of your own choice for the DipABRSM exam.

My programme is as follows:
Bach, Trio Sonata No. 1
Mendelssohn, Prelude and Fugue in C minor
Vierne, Symphony No. 1, Finale
Parry, Chorale Prelude on "Christe, redemptor omnium"
Jongen, Petit prelude

I may omit the Jongen piece.

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Are you majoring in music in university? If so, the written papers in the ARCO exam shouldn't be too bad. You will have learned most of the skills required for the tests in harmony, counterpoint, dictation, and analysis.