I really worried about the DipABRSM, especially the viva voce. I have designed some questions in viva voce and try to answer them myself. Would you please give me some comments and suggestions on it?

I am doing
Johann Sebastian Bach
Toccata No.5 in E minor, BWV 914

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sonata in D, K.311

Schubert Franz
Impromptu in G flat, Op.90 No.3, D899/3

George Gershwin
Prelude I in B flat, Allegro ben ritmato e deciso

1) How did you choose your program?
Ans: My objective is to show the style of playing in the four musical periods so I choose four pieces from each of the period. They were composed by outstanding composers in that period. Also, the pieces are different in mood, style and tempo to let me show a variety of technique. I have listened to other pieces in the repertoire and I choose mine with my favour and also my teacher's recommendation, which she thinks is suitable for me.

2) In your programme notes, you state that Gershwin's true genius was as an improviser. How can you prove it?

Ans: He was a “song plugger” for 2 years from the age of 15 to 17. It trained his skill as an improviser. In many of his works, for example the Rhapsody in Blue, the two handed roll-arrangement gave us an idea of Gershwin’s true live improvisational style. Also, Gershwin was renowned in New York social circles for being the life of a party. He would arrive and within a short time take his seat at the piano where he would entertain guests for hours with improvisations of his songs. Moreover, it is said that Gershwin never played his own pieces the same way twice. Every performance was unique. That’s mean no edition should really be regarded as the “one and only definitive authentic” edition! Gershwin’s improvisatory style showed his true genius was an improviser.

3) Of course Bach's Toccata was composed for harpsichord. What difference did it make to your approach?

Ans: In a harpsichord, each note must be articulated individually. I will not "throw my fingers at" the piano keyboard, as we can sometimes do on other pieces. My each finger and each note will be played individually as the harpsichord is an instrument of subtlety. Also, as the harpsichord cannot be played in a very legato way, I play the in a detached way instead. In fact, I prefer stylistic authenticity in playing a modern piano. I think I should play according to what it was played. In this way, I can truly express the work in its own style. Moreover, after baroque period, fortepiano became more popular, so we can say playing in a harpsichord way is a style in the baroque period. As I said, my objective is to show the style in each musical period, playing in a harpsichord way is more suitable.

Please give me some comments and suggestions on it. If you can think of any other questions or answers, please post it up here. Thank for everyone!!!

P.S. As I live in HK and my English is not so good, sorry for the grammatical mistakes.

Good answers. I guess you may expect to get questions on the structure of the pieces. For the Mozart, for example, it will pay to understand the main structural sonata-form elements, themes etc.

OK, I'll suggest a couple of things, off the top of my head It's a bit like a virtual viva .

Choosing the programme: maybe don't mention that you got your teacher to approve your programme, you might appear to be less of a free-thinking, independent performer. If you're playing from memory, you'll be asked why you think it's a good idea; if you're not, you'll be asked why you chose not to.

For the Bach - you're right on the money with being asked about playing Bach on a modern piano. They may also ask:
- how does the temperament of a modern instrument compared to the ones Bach would have used?
- where does the Toccata fall, chronologically, in Bach's compositional output? What was his profession at the time, and what other music was he writing?

For the Mozart:
- what is sonata form, where is the recapitulation in this piece.
- how many sonatas did Mozart write?
- did Mozart write for instruments other than piano?

For the Schubert:
- Schubert was noted for writing for voice; do you think this is reflected in his writings for piano?

Thank you very much for your suggestions!!!
I'll answer the two questions first.

How does the temperament of a modern instrument compared to the ones Bach would have used?

Ans: Nowadays, people use equal temperament, i.e. the bland, equal spacing of the 12 pitches of the octave. However, there was no such technology in Bach’s time. The tuning they used was meantone tuning. The generating principle behind meantone was that it was more important to preserve the consonance of the major thirds than it was to preserve the purity of the perfect fifths. The reason for this is that the notes in a slightly out-of-tune third, being closer together than those in a fifth, create faster and more disturbing beats than those in a slightly out-of-tune fifth. So, composers at that time would avoid using perfect fifth instead of major and minor triads. Also, they would not use non-harmonic triads such as B major and F# major. In Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, although people called it as equal temperament, the 12 pitches were not equally spaced. It was because we could play equally well in all keys. Each key, however, was a little different, and Bach wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier in all 24 major and minor keys in order to capitalize on those differences, not because the differences didn't exist.


Where does the Toccata fall, chronologically, in Bach's compositional output? What was his profession at the time, and what other music was he writing?

Ans: Bach’s Toccata was written in his younger days. Bach started composing the toccatas in 1705 and completed before 1714. Toccata BWV914 was composed in 1706, when Bach was an organist in the Kapelle of the Duke of Saxe-Weimar. Bach spent the height of his working life in a Lutheran church position in Leipzig, as both organist and music director. Much of his music is overtly religious, while many of his secular works admit religious interpretations on some levels. Beside church music such as the cantatas and the oratorios, Bach had composed many other music compositions for organ, keyboard instruments and chamber music. The Brandenburg Concertos and the Well-Tempered Clavier are examples of his most famous secular works.

OK, a good start. Make brief notes of the key points in your answers here to revise before the day.

Carrying on from those questions: if not equal temperament, what system did Bach use when writing the well-tempered clavier? Would Mozart have used equal temperament?

What evidence is there for an ecclesiastical influence on Bach's secular works?

1. The Schubert piece is one of a set. Did Schubert himself assemble this collection? How many other pieces are there in the set? How does the selected piece compare and contrast to the other pieces in the set? If you were playing the set, what order would you play the pieces in, and why?

2. Exactly the same questions, applied to the Gershwin movement.

I did Gershwin's Preludes I and II in an exam seven years ago. I mentioned how he had died young and that the plan had been to write more of them - comparable to the 48? Gershwin's distinctive sound, and the types of chords he used to achieve it, was something I tried to convey too. Did he have any other solo piano pieces published? Why?

You've got a well balanced programme!

Thank you all!!!
I will try to answer them one by one.


What is sonata form? Where is the recapitulation in this piece?

Ans: The term “sonata form” can be used to designate the plan of a multi-movement work as well as a one-movement form. Sonata form can be used to designate a basic structural plan of instrumental compositions in three or four movements. The first movement is usually in fast tempo. It is sometimes called sonata form or sonata-allegro. It consists of three main sections, namely the exposition, development and the recapitulation. The exposition presents the thematic materials of the movement. The theme is followed by a bridge passage, which usually modulates to the dominant key or the relative major key. The second theme is presented in a contrasting key. The development has no standard practice in regard to procedures followed in the development section. It utilizes any material from the exposition, which is developed in various ways. Themes are presented in different keys and textures. The recapitulation is the restatement of the exposition with all sections in the tonic key. There are also optional sections: an introduction in slow tempo or a coda following the closing theme of the recapitulation.
The second movement usually has three characteristics. It is in slow tempo, in a contrasting key, usually the subdominant or dominant, and it has a more lyric style than other movements. Forms commonly used are ternary, rounded binary, theme and variation, sonatine, and sonata-allegro. The third movement is in tonic key and a moderately fast tempo. In a four-movement work, the third movement is usually called menuetto or called scherzo in a few Haydn’s and most Beethoven’s compositions. The menuetto is called song form and trio, in three main sections: minuet, trio and minuet repeated. Each section is a rounded binary form. The second and the third movement are sometimes reversed in order. The forth movement is the finale. It is in the tonic key with a lively tempo and usually in sonata-allegro form or else a rondo structure.

How many sonatas did Mozart write?
Ans: Mozart had 626 compositions. 45 were sonatas for piano and violin while 17 for piano.

Did Mozart write for instruments other than piano?
Ans: Yes. Mozart had composed 66 arias, 49 symphonies 23 operas and many other masses, concerti and pieces for diverse winds etc.

Name an opera composed by Mozart: Don Giovanni/ The Marriage of Figaro/ The Magic Flute/ Lucio Silla
Name an aria in the opera: "Non so più cosa son, cosa faccio" from The Marriage of Figaro/ "Quest'improvviso tremito" from Lucio Silla
(I don't know how to pronoun the arias )

Is the answer for the first question too long?



Thank you. However, I think it is too short. The total time just reach the minimun requirement. Will I lose marks because of this?

If you think the programme is too short, fairly obviously you could:
1) add one or more of the other Schubert impromptus (contrasting ones preferably)
2) play all the Gershwin preludes, not just the first
3) do both of the above.
However, you would need to get them performance-ready in the time left to you: playing new pieces badly is probably worse than not playing them at all.

Alex, did you time yourself playing all the works together, or have you timed each work individually and addded up the times?

If it's the latter of these, I wouldn't worry at all. You do need to allow yourself a little time between works to change music, and prepare yourself to play the next item. You may find that doing this brings you safely into the time limit.

I don't think 2) is an option unless you're outside the UK, in which case I think you can get away with it for the next exam session. One can only choose one piece per composer unless the pairing is stipulated on the syllabus, and the Gershwin was taken off the revised syllabus, so there's no stipulated pairing making this possible in the UK.

I think you have some space left for another own-choice piece. Do you have another piece (a grade 8 exam piece you played well, for example) that you could bring up to diploma standard? Have you entered for the exam yet, by the way?

My original idea was to play 2 Gershwin's Preludes(This is allowed in the 04 syllabus). However, when I read the 05 syllabus, the Preludes were excluded so I have to play one instead of two.

I will have my exam on 21st, October. I don't think I have enough time to prepare. Does it really matter if I play too shortly?

P.S. What is the difference beween taking the exam in the UK and not? I take the exam in HK.

The 'Special Notices' at the front of the diploma syllabus for 2005 state:

"Candidates taking a Diploma in Music Performance from January 2005 must use the revised syllabus. Any repertoire set in the 2000 syllabus but not in the 2005 syllabus will be valid until the end of 2005."

You can still play that 2nd Gershwin Prelude if you want.



None, it's the same examiners and the same regulations. The only differences are the exam dates, and that you might get your results sooner or later than UK candidates.

Back to the topic.

I am trying to answer the question by YetAnotherPianist for Schubert's impromptu but I cannot think of anything good to say.

Schubert was noted for writing for voice; do you think this is reflected in his writings for piano?

Ans: Yes, I think so. Songs are expressive in nature. The song is probably the oldest of musical forms and arose as a means for the expression of human emotions. In the impromptu, there are rapid changing moods and beautiful melodies. Also, the melodies are simple just like the one for singing.

Obviously it is not a good answer. Would anyone give me some suggestions on what to say?

I've find a description on Schubert's songs:
"Part of Schubert's magic is that he allows the song, and the story it tells, to have more than one meaning. The flexible, almost improvisatory music-making in a song recital keeps interpretative options open; the discipline and complexity of the orchestra foreclose most of them."
and a description on his compositions:
"Schubert's greatness as a composer rests principally upon his amazing lyrical gift. Whether he composed a symphony, a string quartet, or a song, he expressed himself through lyricism. His sudden characteristic shifts between the major and minor modes in his instrumental music are a stamp of his personal style. His compositions offer a seemingly inexhaustible variety of moods, which evoke strong emotional responses from listeners."
Are they useful for the question?

Thank for all.

Don't worry, that's the sort of thing I was after - Schubert's piano music is full of 'good melodies', that could just as well have been sung. It's partly what makes his music popular - people like something they can hum along to .

Does it mean I only have to mention that, the good melodies in Schubert's works were likely composed to be sung?

The thing you've got to remember is that now, whilst you have the opportunity to look up anything you want and compose your thoughts, you will be able to give better, and more in depth, answers than you will in the exam. This is of course good though as you're learning a lot of facts from it and can hopefully recount some of them in the exam. The answer you gave to the question about Schubert would be perfectly adequate in an exam to such a question, some questions require more in-depth answers than others. Also remember that if the examiners require any more depth they will ask and, whilst it's not advisable to always give them only a little and make them ask for more, they will ask further questions if necessary; them doing this once or twice won't cause you to lose many (if any) marks.

Regarding the Schubert the second paragraph of writing that you found is just the sort of thing you needed, and your answer based on that was absloutely fine. Just saying the melodies were composed to be sung is not so good however as they were composed to be played; but saying that his lyrical gift that he used so much in writing songs clearly shows in the melodies in his other works, and expanding as you did, is a good answer. Of course if the examiner is unhappy with that level of depth they will ask questions based on what you said, so it's important to only make statements that you can justify if questioned further, for example to further this question the examiner could ask which works in particular you think that this gift shows the most in.

hi my pieces are about the same as yours. i've played the bach, mozart and gershwin prelude II and III. these are some questions that i can remember for my exams hope it helps.

Bach:
1. what is meant by toccata. Does any other composers write toccata and how does it differ?
2. what's the difference between the harpsichord and the piano you've played today? how did you played it?
3. could you pls guide me through the adagio section how you have played the way you did.

Mozart:
1. What do you think of using pedal to play Mozart's pieces?
2. Would you use any rubato in Mozart's pieces?
3. Mannheim orchestra influence this particular composition?

Gershwin:
1. What contribution does he have to the music industry at his time?
2. Any other american composers you know?
3. What's the difference between the conventional american music and his?

Hope it helps.. i did quite badly in the viva.. sad... so all the best to you~~!

Oh...I have realised how serious the problem is...
I play one Gershwin's prelude because I think the preludes are excluded from the 05 syllabus. However, I don't know I can play the one in the 04 syllabus. If the examiner ask me why I am playing only one prelude, how can I answer? Obviously I cannot answer sonething like "I don't read the syllabus clearly". Should I play one more prelude from now? There are just 25 days left for my exam!!!

It could be your own choice piece - it's short enough, and the rest of the pieces you are playing are on the syllabus.

I've made up my mind. I will include prelude III also as I have practised it before.

Thank you very musch, fenfen! I think questions in the real exam is the most useful. I will answer them all later.

I have modify my answer of Suchbert's impromptu.

Schubert was noted for writing for voice; do you think this is reflected in his writings for piano?

Ans: Yes, I think so. Songs are expressive in nature. The song is probably the oldest of musical forms and arose as a means for the expression of human emotions. In the impromptu, there are rapid changing moods and beautiful melodies. The expressive and simple melodies make the impromptu to be easily sung. Schubert's greatness as a composer rests principally upon his amazing lyrical gift. In his works, he expressed himself through lyricism. His sudden characteristic shifts between the major and minor modes in his instrumental music are a stamp of his personal style. His lyrical gift that he used so much in writing songs clearly shows in the melodies in his other works.

Moreover, I am doing the question "What evidence is there for an ecclesiastical influence on Bach's secular works?". It seems to be not differcult but I cannot find a answer for it. Is there any examples of Bach's sacred music influencing his secular music?

P.S. My sight-reading always fail. Is it possible to fail the quick study only? Should I use grade six exam pieces to practise every day?

What is meant by toccata? Does any other composers write toccata and how does it differ?

Ans: Toccata is an Italian word meaning “touch”. It is composed for a keyboard instrument. It emphases on the performer’s skill. This form first appeared in the Baroque period. It often features rapid runs and arpeggios alternating with chord or fugal sections. Sometimes there is no regular tempo, with an improvisational feel. Other composers also composed toccatas, such as Buxtehude.

However, I don't know the difference between them because I have never listened to Buxtehude's toccata. I only know the toccatas were early Bach work, and Bach was experimenting with the possibilities of the loosely coordinated toccata form, which he had inherited from his 17th-century predecessors including Buxtehude.
Should I name another composer with a larger difference between Bach such as Prokofiev? In fact, what's the main difference with Buxtehude's and Bach's toccata?

What do you think of using pedal to play Mozart's pieces?

Ans: The pedal has several uses. It sustains notes by lifting the dampers. It can make the notes play louder and more legato. Its main function is to help playing expressive and lyric music. I think we may sometimes use pedal in Mozart’s pieces to play loud chords or notes. Also, if there are phrases in chords or octaves that we cannot play legato, we can use light pedal to make the phrase legato. However, in most cases, we will not use pedal in Mozart’s pieces. Mozart’s pieces focus on objectivity, ethos and emotional restraint. The using of pedal to play expressively and lyric will violate the original idea of Mozart.

Would you use any rubato in Mozart's pieces?

Ans: In most of the time, I do not use rubato. Rubato is a practice common in Romantic compositions of taking part of the duration from one note and giving it to another. It involves the performer tastefully stretching, slowing, or hurrying the tempo as he sees fit, thus imparting flexibility and emotion to the performance. Romanticism focuses on pathos, subjectivity and rationalism. However, Mozart’s pieces focus on objectivity, ethos, emotional restraint and balance and clarity. It is not suitable to use rubato in Mozart’s pieces. I will sometimes use rubato in cadenzas in Mozart’s pieces, where the tempo is relatively freer.

I have a question. Will the questions in the viva voce really asked base on my programme notes? The syllabus states so but I do not know of anyone who is asked like this. Is their objective to test my general music knowledge or to test my knowledge related to my programme notes?

A bit of both. Anything you say in the programme notes may form the basis for a question, as one of the purposes of the viva is to check you actually wrote the programme notes yourself.

For example, one of the pieces I played was composed as a test piece for the annual competition of the Paris Conservatoire. I was asked to suggest a programme made up entirely of Paris Conservatoire test pieces. This showed I had a knowledge of which repertoire items had been composed for this purpose.

AlexDBS - the harpsichord CAN be played in a legato manner, and the Baroque tuning systems are multiple, not simply limited to mean-tone. Harpsichord-playing is very dependent upon articulation for its expressiveness, and in particular relies on the way in which the fingers are lifted, not depressed on the keys - no matter what your preferences in terms of choice of instrument, it is as well to hear a few really good harpsichordists playing the pieces you mention if you wish to discuss the differences. Mean-tone tuning is a relatively early form of tempering - and Bach would have been used to and have heard other forms too. My husband is a very good harpsichord tuner, so I know!

what is a Viva Voce? i got to do 1 for A2 Music next year :-\

the diploma syllabus for 2005 gives a very clear breakdown/description of the viva. find it on the board's site, under 'exams' then 'diplomas' and download from there.

In fact, some phrases in my programme notes are copied from the web such as "The charm is more discreet and the mien more considered" as I cannot write such beautiful English. Will the examiners mind me doing that? I am not copying a whole paragraph but only sentences. I find sentences from the web and edit them to a whole passage. Is it ok?

If you copy a quote or sentence directly you must accredit the author and make it clear where the quote is, for example:

some writing of my own "this is a quote from someone else*" and then some more writing of my own.

(footnote) *name of author, title of article, source taken from

If you do not do this it's plagiarism and you could be disqualified from the exam if anyone recognises that quote. Best to do little footnotes with numbers rather than *s I just can't (be bothered to) do it here. Part of the test is to see that you can write well (considerably more difficult in a second language I know) but it's not acceptable to use someone else's good writing ability, even in your first language it's a skill to write beautifully.

A note about your answer to the Mozart question, I suspect the gist of the question about pedalling in Mozart was to test your knowledge of the historical accuracy of pedalling Mozart and then for you to justify your decision of whether or not/how much to pedal with respect to that; hence your answer would probably be met with a follow up question along the lines of 'What would the pedal have been like on Mozart's piano/did Mozart's piano have a pedal?'

Another comment on your answers, which are on the whole good, is that you are very good at stating facts but I think they could be improved by showing that you can extrapolate and form opinions based on these facts; rather than just stating a lot of facts, this would show that you have an understanding of the information you're stating, rather than having just learnt some information. By the way I haven't done a diploma, I just have quite a bit of experience of seeing through exam questions to see what people are really asking for; and marking people's answers outside the context of music exams.

Thanks a lot.
Should I change the sentences a little bit? I forget where I got the information from!

In that case then you will have to change the sentences to something else: try to make your own description of the piece in that way using your own words. Even if you do it in your native language and then translate it to English afterwards (don't use babelfish though ).

If I read such a statement as the one you quoted I would be suspicious of plaigerism since it is almost 'too good' however if the student came across as very good in the viva then I'd believe that they'd written it. Any statement the examiners are suspicious of would probably be met with a question in the viva such as what do you mean by "The charm is more discreet and the mien more considered"? Or in what way does this show in the piece? etc. If the candidate cannot justify this then the examiners may become suspicious. An added problem with this is that I've never heard the word "mien" before, although this may just be down to me having poor vocabulary, but an unusual word would probably raise alarm bells in some cases.

The programme notes are a test of what you can write about the piece, okay you're not going to go back to original manuscripts and historical sources so will ultimately be relying on facts from other people (many sources though, not just one) for the factual requirements but descriptive work must be your description, not someone else's, after all it's you that they're examining! Even if you did quote the descriptions the examiners probably wouldn't be happy with that as they want to hear your description of the piece; unless, of course, you thought it was a particularly important quote and justified it's relevance such as: Bob the pianist, the first performer of this piece, said of it 'some insightful quote from Bob' this shows throughout the piece in this way, that way and the other way in bar something. The examiners are looking for what you have to say about the piece .

I have a problem about music.
People say Impromptus have improvisational feel. However, they are written out. What is improvisational feel?

P.S. I am going to have my exam this Friday. My teacher said I played well in the previous lesson . Wish I can keep this to my exam. I am worrying about the viva and quick study. What preparation can I do in this two days?

Chopin improvised some of his compositions and then wrote them down. Thus the compositions are improvisations, and could well be said to have an improvisational feel even though they were later written down. An improvisational feel simply means that it sounds/feels like an improvisation even though it may be written down and may even be planned. If you agree with the statement and are playing Impromptus then you should consider this in the way you play it. I don't know how familiar you are with the common meaning of the word impromptu in English but it actually means something that is unplanned and happens spontaneously; this could be why such pieces are given the title, they are improvisational in style.


If you feel you are prepared enough you could have a rest. If you feel you need to do something perhaps you could read through your programme notes again to refresh your memory of what you wrote, and think about what questions they might lead to. The best thing to do (easier said than done) is just to try not to put so much pressure on yourself: you can only do your best, so make your aim to do as well as you can and be happy with that. Worry about everything else later. Glad your playing is going well, good luck for the exam . Let us know how it goes.

Piano exam today!!!



My first impression on the examinors are that they are very friendly and nice. They do put me in ease. Thanks God!!!

Talk about the recital first. The first and second movement including the introduction were quite good, but I skipped many notes in the third movement. I think the first two will pass but not that hopeful in the third.

The sonata ran quite smoothly, except I turned two pages instead of one in the first movement, which caused me a pause when turning back. Don't know if it matters or not.

The impromptu was not as good as I expect, especially when playing in the piano that I was unfamiliar with. Don't know if I pass or not.

The preludes were the best.



I did the viva before quick study.

- Which piece do you like most in your performance? (I answered the Gershwin's)

- What is the style of Gershwin's music?

- What other composition did Gershwin composed?

- Where did Bach come from?

- (I forget the exact question)Where did Bach spend his height of his career?

- Name some other composers at Bach's time.

- What is the difference between the instrument Bach used and the piano? How does it affect your approach?

- As there is no dynamics indication in this movement (the second movement), how do you decide the dynamics?

- What is a fugue?

- What is the key of this fugue and does it remain in the same key in the whole movement? (I don't know why I cannot answer this question!!!)

- What is the difference between Baroque music and classical music?

- Tell me about the structure of the sonata.

- What other compositions did Mozart write?

- Can you think of another Mozart's composition that is similar with the theme of the second movement in the sonata? (I said I have no idea but I can name another composition that is similar with the third movement)

- Where did Schubert come from?

- What was Schubert well-known for?

- As a painist, what is the most differcult in preparing for the impormptu? (I forget the exact question. I said the phrasing is the most differcult for a pianist. For a violinist, they can play a phrase in one bow but a pianist cannot)

- What other things you want to tell us? (I can't think of any at that time but now I think I should mentioned something about the Mannheim influence on the sonata.)



Finally the quick study is the easier than I expect. However, I was nervous and I think I play better when prasticing. I am not sure if it pass or not.

Probability of passing the exam: 48.286549%

Anyway, thanks for everyone who have helped me.

Well done on getting through it.

If your estimated probability of passing is transferred directly into marks then you will have passed!

Congratulations on completing the exam and good luck for the results .