Just looking for ideas for my GCSE pupils - have several flute pupils about Grade 5/6 standard who are looking for suitable pieces to play.
Some arent really able to play their Grade 6 pieces fluently yet and dont want to dig out Grade 5 pieces......
So was just wondering if anyone here would care to share with me their choice of piece!
Thank you!

Don't go for anything too hard, grade 4 is fine for GCSE. Your pupils won't get as good marks if they play a grade 6 peice - with some slip-ups - rather than a near perfect grade 4 peice. There were no flautists in my year, so I can't name a peice, sorry.

Grade 4's fine for GCSE as Jon says - if they've got a nice grade 5 piece that's good though - I'd recommend playing that, if it's more interesting than a G4 piece. No point playing something too easy for you!

Someone I know who's an amazing flautist did a piece by Goddard, which was in a book (rather than on its own) - I think it was called Allegro or Allegretto or something. It was nice - lots of slurred notes, a couple of grace notes and the theme was repeated near the end up an octave. I don't know what standard, or if it sounds familiar, though - she was Grade 8 so it could have been anywhere from grade 5 or 6 up.

Related question: What's the grade threshold for pieces to be marked on the "difficult" markscheme for Edexcel?

For GCSE, I think grade 5 is difficult, grade 4 standard and grade 3 easy. AS level is grade 6 difficult, grade 5 standard and grade 4 easy and A2 level is grade 7 difficult, grade 6 standard and grade 5 easy. And you don't get any extra marks for playing a grade 8 piece, even if it's perfect...in fact, Edexcel style, you're probably more likely to be marked down for that...

Anyone feel free to correct me if the grade boundaries are wrong!

EDIT: trying to think of pieces....'Haunting Habanera' from 'Let's Dance' is nice - it is on the grade 5 list though...I played Gymnopedie no. 1 quite early on in the course, but I hadn't been playing flute for very long then so that's probably a bit easy...there are some other pieces in the Satie flute album that are nice - Le Picadilly was fun to play! I also enjoyed playing some pieces from The Flautist's Collection, book 2 - Dance of the Blessed Spirits, Faure's 'Reflection' and extracts from a Handel and Bach Sonata were all really enjoyable to play... there is also Debussy's 'The Little Shephard' in this book, if they fancy something a bit different and probably more of a challenge! Afraid I don't actually know the grade standards of most of these pieces, but I could play them when I was around grade 5 standard so they should be about right... :S

Allegretto, first movement of Suite de Trois Morceaux by Godard. I think it is grade 6. (Did the 3rd movement for my AS recital)

For GCSE I can remember doing - City Life 3 by Paul Hart, CPE Bach sonata in E minor, first 2 movements of that. With City Life, there are some easier pieces in it, it's fantastic, I really enjoyed it.

I don't understand why you get marked down for playing a high grade piece. If i was Grade 8ish, i would want to play something of that standard and challenge myself, and would not want to play something i could play a few years ago.

For my exam I played 'Pan et Les Berges' - but that is a G8 piece. Earlier in the course I had played Rondeau by Bach (one of the first pieces in 76 Graded Studies for Flute), Whistling Blues (Jazzed up Too) and Tambourin by Gossec

You don't get marked down for playing a difficult piece as such, but you will lose marks if it isn't played perfectly, and at GCSE that means adherence to the score. It's much harder to do this with a Grade 8 piece than a Grade 4, so it makes sense to play a piece that you know you can play perfectly.

The only reason for not playing an easier piece is if you are so bored with it that you don't play it well.

I got told it was grade 3 for standard, anything above that was harder and anything below was easier.

I played about a grade 3 standard piece and still got 23.5 out of 25 and my flute playing is rather messy. I would definatly say to go for something that they are comfortable playing than pushing for anything too hard.

Thanks for all the ideas so far!
I think I will suggest a new Grade 4 one to learn OR to revise a Grade 5 one. Theres no way they would be comfortable doing a Grade 6 piece just yet!

You might think about Malcolm Arnold's Solitaire (Grade 4) if they haven't done it already. It's got lots of scope for expressive playing, and is high enough to be slightly challenging for the more advanced flautist.

dont know that one! Will check it out. Once I am far enough away from the overdraft I will investigate and buy lots of new repertoire! I have either really easy beginner stuff or too advanced post-grade 8 stuff - so nothing really suitable for my pupils.
Bring on pay day!

For my year 10 practical I somehow pulled off a grade 8 piece and got 29/30!

There havent been many suggestions for actual pieces so heres a few to consider:

McDowall - Music hall from 6 pastiches
Gossec - Tambourin
Any of the Mike Mower 20 Comandments
Any movement of the Mathias sonatina
chanson or aria from Rutter's Suite Antique
Any of the Rabboni sonatas - comes with a CD accomp which is great for practice

Oooh! Hadnt thought about the other movements of the suite Antique - we actually sight read through one together with me at the joanna a while back and I know she liked it! thanks Sags! also got the mathias somewhere.....wish all my music was here! Got to go back to the parental home to get the rest of it at some point!

Hornpipe by McDowall from the book mentioned by Sags is about grade 5 and nice

I love Suite Antique, especially Chanson

Does anyone think the unaccompanied Telemann (down for Grade 6 list C) would be suitable for GCSE? My pupil has decided she absolutely loves it (which is great- i like enthusiasm over pieces!).....I just hope its an ok piece to do?

Anything is fine for GCSE as long as your pupil is able to reproduce accurately anything written on the score (notes, articulations etc.). Adherence to the score (in other words, accuracy) seems to be the main marking criterion. The problem with playing a baroque piece is the necessity of adding to the score for an effective performance so as to include dynamics, ornaments etc. A more modern piece where everything is written in might be safer.

How about Badinerie? Someone in my class did that last year and got good marks

i did the prelude of suite antique & got full marks. As others have said, the main thing is to stick to the score, so I would pick something that they are completely comfortable with, that they like so they don't get bored of it, & has scope for expressive playing, again so they don't get bored after they've leant the notes...no pieces immediately come to mind, if i think of any I'll post them