Son Viohazard would be writing this if he weren't busy with music practice plus 5 pages of theory homework every night!

He and his guitar teacher liked the new Grade 8 syllabus very much indeed - lots of succulent music in there!

They've pretty much decided on Bach from list A, and the Paganini Romanze from list B, and Coste, Tarrega, and Giuliani look attractive too. Didn't like the Mertz choice as much, apparently.

But guitar G8 syllabus List C!!! To be honest, being here in Japan, the list C pieces often include British modern works and other pieces that are almost unknown here, but all 9 choices look good here...Dodgson, Duarte, Torroba, Ponce, Smith Brindle, Tansman, Turina, and two Villa-Lobos pieces.

Teacher likes Torroba/Madronos, Viohazard hates it; Viohazard likes Turina, teacher thinks it will be pretty challenging; Villa-Lobos, well maybe not this time; Dodgson maybe if it were a different piece...so they are thinking that Ponce/Valse looks one of the easier choices and Duarte/English Suite is very well known and attractive too.

Any comments on specific challenges, or likes/dislikes?

Any comments on specific challenges, or likes/dislikes?

I've taught both Madronos and the Turina pair and would say Madronos is slightly harder. But if the lad likes it, well its not the teacher doing the exam so would not approve of their vetoing it out of hand personally.
Also consider the Villa Lobos - you should have the complete VL edition anyway by now and this may be a good time to invest in it.
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Thanks! Good to hear some input on those two pieces.

Yes, they are also looking at the Villa-Lobos Mazurka-choro...but I think the idea was that there was no rush to do it if other more unusual pieces seemed more attractive, as Villa-Lobos is something he'll inevitably play.