Is it a must to play only the pieces published by that particular publisher in the bracket?
Can use others?

The repertoire lists for the Diplomas state that you may use any edition other than the suggested one. Don't know what the situation is for grade exams, but cannot imagine it being different.

<-- Happy Bunny

.. of course if you stray away from the recommended edition, the examiners may ask in the viva: "why did you choose that particular edition?" and expect a reasoned reply...

"Because it is the one that was already on my music shelf"

nul points

So I am expected to either:

a. Lie creatively, or
b. Waste money

?

No, you can tell the truth but they may well expect you to understand some of the basics of why edition X is 'better' than edition Y. As far as I understand it, Diplomas are more about thinking for yourself from a performance point of view and justifying your approach/interpretation etc. rather than just being spoon fed.

I'm planning to go for a) if it comes up on Saturday...

It's important if it's an arrangement.

Don't forget that whatever edition you do use, the examiner will expect to see the same edition as the one you have on the music desk. And it is a good idea to use a publisher of good reputation, to avoid falling foul of poor editing. Another problem can be found with some of the open-source music available online - sure, it may well be ex-copyright, but changes in thinking may well mean that an edition, say of Bach, from the 1930s may have performance markings which are not original, and also not marked in such a way that you can tell they are not original .

The Gershwin pieces for list c at grade 8 this year and next (as well as the Fats Waller and the Mussorgsky for next year) specify "This arrangement only". For Diploma, the Gershwin pieces from the same book do not have the same specification (or at least not that I can find) but since the music is still in copyright (just) I wouldn't expect there to be that many alternatives. I would imagine the same applies to any work still in copyright.

Hmmm... why can't I use two different editions? I have 2 different Mozart editions, one ABRSM and one Peters and I don't plan on duplicating either of them! I had the Peters one first and then decided to get hold of a better version. For the exam I was going to use the one I started with (Peters) but just as a guide since I'm trying to memorize it. Is that not a good idea?

thanks (p.s. sorry if is this hijacking the thread?!)

If it a case of Henle or Bairenreiter for Mozart Sonatas since both are meant to be an Urtext, a comment along the lines of I preferred the pagination and print style of (the one already on your shelves) may suffice, there are both supposedly Urtext editions (as a throwaway comment). Do make sure you know what an Urtext is before saying the last bit.

Thanks for your input. My Peters edition 'claims' to be an Urtext too! Time to go and dig out my old OU notes me thinks! :-)

There are urtexts and then there are urtexts...

Yes, that has become evident! :-)

The examiner is expecting to see what you're playing from: if you're memorising, then there is less of a problem anyway, because you can give your examiner the one you learned from. I haven't seen the two editions you're talking about, but you might just be able to talk your way out of giving the examiner something which looks different from what you're playing from (this is now assuming you've got the music up on the desk in the exam) if you can say both are Urtext and know what Urtext means...have a read of the regulations though, you might be on thin ice there. (sorry, I'm too lazy to go and look it up just now).

Thanks, I'll go read the regulations myself (where do I find them?). I'm puzzled though because surely everybody's interpretation is different in terms of dynamics, pedalling, articulation and so on - I don't really stick to ANY particular edition religiously. For example I might like a particular recording and pick up ideas from those sources too.

May I suggest if you are doing a Dip that you familiarise yourself intimately with the syllabus. It is available on the www.abrsm.org website and you can order it in a printed version if you prefer.

[quote name='fyrtlemyrtle' date='Jul 19 2008, 10:04 AM' post='724052']

[/quote]
May I suggest if you are doing a Dip that you familiarise yourself intimately with the syllabus. It is available on the www.abrsm.org website and you can order it in a printed version if you prefer.
[/quote]


Thanks but yes I do have a copy (just haven't read it for a little while) - have just checked. It says that editions quoted are recommendations only; you are free to choose any other editions; use of discretion for matters of phrasing etc. Copies for examiners are *ideally* the same edition (photocopies allowable if contact the publisher) and that you should be prepared to discuss choice of editions in the Viva.

So, that's me pretty much covered then :-)

Yes, but can you say in an informed manner why you chose edition X over edition Y?

Not yet!! (work in progress...) java script:emoticon(':D',%20'smid_5')

Of course staccato can

X was available for 23 pounds 50 pence whereas Y was going to cost 26 pounds.

That's informed and reasoned


sorry my keyboard has $ not pounds!

In a way, yes but I think they want "informed and reasoned" with regards to the way it affects performance rather than the £ in the pocket...

Only on the naive assumption that you play the piece exactly as notated and edited in the edition you chose to buy (or happened to have available).

Any particular edition is just one of the inputs into the final performance

The eventual performance is based on information from many sources - all the other editions that you borrowed from friends or library, or sneaked a look at in the music shop, recordings, recitals attended, books, web articles, discussions with other musicians, knowledge of the period, knowledge of the composer's other works, personal insights into the piece ... whether you have the skill to realize in sound what you have conceived in your mind ...

True, Mad Tom, but there are good editions and bad editions, good editorship and bad editorship, good scholarship and bad scholarship. One doesn't want to make the wrong decision because the lowest price won! There are many examples of old editions of Bach for example which were considered 'learned' in the early 20th century but now they are seen as archaic, idiosyncratic and downright inaccurate. Whilst study of them for their own sake is interesting, no sane performer would use them as a true urtext. One can still buy them from musicroom - a £6.95 volume looks good value to the uninitiated when the alternative is a £20 Barenreiter edition.

You are right of course about the influence of other factors on performance and your eloquent argument would find favour during a viva I would think!

Yes I could rant for ages about this!

But - going off at a slight, but important tangent - does anyone know of any edition of Chopin where the staccato markings and Ped indications are not mutually contradictory - or of a book that properly explains this problem, instead of ignoring it?

e.g. Op 55. Am I supposed to play the bass line Staccato as marked, and Pedal, if at all, slightly after the note (Which actually sounds very good - though unconventional). Or am I supposed to use the pedal to hold the bass, which is what most pianists do, and which creates a completely different effect, in which case, why is the bass line marked staccato?

I have ben told that it is "Obvious" that you are supposed to hold the bass line with the pedal, but I don't see what is so obvious about it. It is conventional, but that means nothing, unless there is a sound reason why it has become the convention. I actually prefer the sound of the first way, but of course if I play it like that most listeners will think that I am simply playing it wrong.

Which markings are Chopin's. Which are editorial? If Chopin himself used contradictory markings, then what did he mean? Why would any musician write such notation when nothing is more certain than that it would cause headaches for thousands of pianists over centuries. Why should such a simple point ever become a problem at all - surely it is the job of any editor to clarify such difficulties of reading? Not to add to them.

Oh and French editions are notoriously full of errors! It gives you loads of mileage about why you corrected which bit in the way you did.

So true.