I'm preparing for my DipABRSM on the Recorder. I'm not taking it immediately, I'm still making my choices of pieces and hoping to go for the exam in December, but they are driving me crazy already!

Here's the thing; if you are familiar with the list, you will see that there is both a Vivaldi and Bach piece on it. I'm in a quandry because to be honest, I love them both. But, I know that when it comes to the time of choosing my pieces I will have to choose between them. How do I do it??

I know I should try and think rationally and think about the musical reasons for choosing the one or the other... I'm a player though that is used to playing things like Bach, Telemann, Vivaldi and Handel. But because of the list I have just got into Sammartini, who I knew next to nothing about until recently, and there is no way I am giving up that piece (from the Sibley 6 Sonatas) because I not only enjoy it, but it is also very technically demanding so I can 'show off' more. But when it comes to the Bach and Handel, they both have their strengths. For example...

The Vivaldi
1. The 2nd movement is one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard, and I know I can make a lot of it
2. It is very bright and although not technically very difficult in general, I can make a lot of my articulation, ornamentation, etc, there seems to be some scope for creative freedom when playing it - with limitations of course!

The Bach
1. It's Bach - how can I have a programme without Bach?
2. Although I don't have as much freedom with the piece as I do with the Vivaldi in the ways I outlined above, I do find it very challenging and at times very beautiful (the first movement for example).

I know it is early days yet, but any advice? Am I considering my own personal likes and dislikes too much and not thinking about what I should do with the Diploma itself? Shall I be trying to challenge myself in my repertoire or shall I be playing things I enjoy? Or can I do do both?



Sorry I meant Bach and Vivaldi not Handel.... see? I am going crazy!

You need to show that you can play material in a wide range of styles and periods, so you certainly can't afford to play more than two of the three pieces you've mentioned here, and even that is pushing it a little, in my opinion.

You definitely need something 'earlier' in your programme - eg. the Castello, Fontana or Montalbano - and van Eyck is always useful. You'll also need something modern - my Dip recorder pupils have particularly enjoyed working on the Marshall 4 Haiku. If you haven't yet encountered those, they're super pieces, each of the four being in a completely different style from the others, using descant, treble and tenor recorders - well worth playing, even if you decide not to use them for your exam.

Don't forget the optional 7 minutes'-worth of own-choice piece/s! My pupils have usually taken the chance to play something like Krahmer's Rondeau Hongrois, which adds yet another period and style of piece to the mix.

Yes. I agree that you will need an earlier piece and one of the modern ones. The Scottish Suite is great fun to play. As to choosing between Bach and Vivaldi, choose the one that you feel more comfortable with and one that your instrument likes. This may sound a silly comment to have made but the fellow recorder players will know exactly what I mean.

ATCL is different, but similar, and again, balance is required; not easy on the recorder, as you're finding. I did play two pieces from the early-ish baroque for that exam - some Cima and some van Eyck - but they were very different in mood and character, and one on tenor, one on descant. I also learned Hans-Martin Linde's Fantasien & Scherzi - a bit troublesome to do because I didn't enjoy the noise it made, and there were fiddly techniques and some tough counting involved; the result however was pretty good, and seemed to impress the examiner - sometimes learning something avant-garde can be to your advantage, because it's likely to be less well-known...so you could get away with more slips . I was surprised too that I learned to play something I didn't much like, and certainly gained a lot from the process - the piece has pulsed vibrato in it, for instance, and after doing that I found I could introduce limited, controlled vibrato for other purposes rather better too .
I would agree with the others, though - Bach and Vivaldi in one programme are likely to be too close together for the examiners - but if you love both, why not learn them anyway, and put them towards another recital in which your choice is free ?