Aaaaaaaargh! Idiots.

I ordered the Piano and flute/violin score - and they sent me the Guitar and Violin CD!!!

On the ABRSM CD, for bar 14, it sounds like they just play the octave with the left hand and then quickly move up to play the chord with the left hand as well. I'm not sure though. It sounds a lot better the way they play it on the CD to when I try and do the same!! Ah well, i'll just have to keep trying!

I've been playing the bottom two notes with my LH, then the rest of the chord with my RH, then jumping quickly to the high D with RH. Not sur eif thats the best way though. I'd have assumed that, if it was meant to be played all by the LH, there'd be a line around the chord (like the one in bar 13 to suggest the RH) to indicate it.

This is so frustrating. I can't wait for my copy of the score to arrive so that I'll know what you are all talking about.

Patience, patience Tom. It will be worth the wait !

Actually there's a rubato over those few bars which I guess if played with some sophistication will help with any leaping around. I can't see any way of playing bar 14 without separating the two chords completely, which from what pianosecrets says is the way it is tackled on the cd. (Perhaps it was written for someone with Rachmaninoff sized hands ....Maybe Alfredo Gobbi was a man with huge hands.... )

I feel that WTC II No. 12 is a more suitable choice than WTC I No. 17.

Of the recent Grade 8 syllabi, I like the 2003-04 and 2005-06 a lot more than the 2007-08 and 2009-10.

I wasn't quibbling about choosing it as a Grade 8 piece - I meant that the interpretation of the Prelude on the CD is less than wonderful

If you buy the downloads off the AB Publishing site they are really good MP3's.

I got the CD's with the Grade 8 book and my PC won't play them

Ant

Even though I am past grade VIII, I have bought the book- purely for the Piazzolla (and hopefully my brother can use it too- being as there are two years until the end of the syllabus!) I am lucky to have big hands, so none of the tenths are a problem.
My teacher is going to have problems- but I think she is just going to roll the chords (can't think of the proper term! ) as quickly as possible, so that the rhythms stay intact...

I love the new Grade 7 syllabus...! Shame...
Though, more arpeggios to do.

Oh well, there's always the Grade 8 to look forward to!

Pianoboe

Well my copy of the Piazolla piece (Retrato de Alfredo Gobbi) finally arrived, and I love it, and am going to memorize it and add it to my repertoire. Yes iona - it was worth the wait.

I am sorry I am not going to be much help with suggestions for most of the the big LH chords. I can comfortably stretch all of them except those in measures 14 and 69 - which no-one could manage with one hand - not even Rubinstein, or Rachmaninov, or Alfredo Gobbi.

There are three ways to handle those. You can either:

1. Take the octave with the LH and make a LH leap up to the other chord, or
2. Take the middle chord with the RH and make a RH Leap up to the melody, or
3. Make the whole thing a big LH Arpeggio

Whatever way you choose, it needs the pedal to hold the harmony, so the melody gets smudged.

I prefer method 2. Can I justify that with some logic? Well the sections are marked Rubato, and the first melody note in each of measures 13, 15, 68 and 70 is not at the start of the bar either, so treating it like this sounds quite natural. [One form of Rubato is to play the RH slightly behind the beat].

I think it sounds even better if the chord is briskly arpeggiated -> E-A-C#-D, with 1-2-3-5 but that might be taking too much of a liberty if you are presenting it as an exam piece.

method 2 makes sense seeing as in the first measure of each section it is marked with the right hand and my preference is to arpeggiate the chords as it fits within the style of the section.