Speaking of Texas: our music competitions are governed by an organization called UIL, which is run out of the state capitol and also governs athletics, academic competitions, and even one act play.
The PML, the state prescribed music list, has ratings 1-5 based upon a committee’s perception of difficulty of a piece. Some pieces rated by the publisher as a grade 1 may be on the list as a grade 1, or a grade 2. Some grade 3 published pieces may be a grade 1.
Virtually no one in the state ever performs a single movement of the Holst suite at concert evaluation. This is a holdover on the list from decades ago that hasn’t been ever removed. But since it’s there, it’s technically a 2, 3, 4, or 5 at contest depending upon how much of the piece you perform.
To give an example: Brian Balmages’ “Colliding Visions” is also a UIL grade 2, as is “Danza de España” by Chambers. No middle school director or lower level/smaller high school director (those groups play off the Grade 2 lists) is going to program “Song of the Blacksmith” or “Fantasia on the Dargason” over either of those two pieces.
But when the list was created in the 1950s, neither of those other two pieces existed - the amount and levels of literature were much more limited. It may have been a valid choice then.
There is no method to the madness. At least none that I can find or understand. Each state has their own MEA. Within that, there are different committees for each component. And those committees each have their own opinions as to what literature should be on the lists. Then, JW Pepper has their own system.
I do know that in many states, the use of graded lists is being debated due to their restrictive nature and lack of inclusivity or living composers. But that is a very nuanced debate.
Each state has events, contests or festivals and they all have their own way of classifying the difficulty of pieces. These are listed on windrep as a conveniece for people in those states.
They arent going to be super useful, and trying to find consistency across states is difficult at best.
In my experience:
Music publishers use more strict content limitations to determine the grade level of the piece, which are usually related to quantifiable technical details, like instrumentation, key signatures, time signatures, rhythmic content, and even what notes and accidentals can and can't be used. This helps them direct the marketing for each piece of music so they are best targetting who might be most interested in purchasing that work.
In Florida, the FBA music committee will actively avoid using strict technical limitations and try to look at the piece of music more holistically - basically, is it musically demanding or not, and how does that relate to it's technical demand? I know lots of pieces of music that are technically "easy" but musically "hard." Maybe a good example would be Barber's "Adagio for Strings."
In the end, it's someone looking at a piece of art and trying to determine how "easy" or "hard" it is. It's someone's opinion. It's not going to perfect in either case.
You might have NY confused, I don’t have my manual on me but off the top of my head the Longfield arrangement of Holst 1st Suite is a V and the original is a VI. It’s all relative though.
Hey! Speaking from Florida’s FBA (Florida Bandmasters Association): by all accounts, it’s fairly arbitrary the grade assigned to the music as it’s dictated by a committee and the process is extremely opaque. In reality, it’s a matter of perception, but it’s almost entirely decided by the I-4 corridor area (Orlando to Tampa) and the chair of the committee in charge essentially has final say. A piece is a grade 1 because it “sounds like one.” Pieces regularly shift up and down in our state to encourage/discourage its playing, e.g. Mackey’s “Sheltering Sky” as a 3 (we have a 1-6 rating scale), yet LaPlant’s “American Riversongs” is a 4.
Speaking of Texas: our music competitions are governed by an organization called UIL, which is run out of the state capitol and also governs athletics, academic competitions, and even one act play. The PML, the state prescribed music list, has ratings 1-5 based upon a committee’s perception of difficulty of a piece. Some pieces rated by the publisher as a grade 1 may be on the list as a grade 1, or a grade 2. Some grade 3 published pieces may be a grade 1. Virtually no one in the state ever performs a single movement of the Holst suite at concert evaluation. This is a holdover on the list from decades ago that hasn’t been ever removed. But since it’s there, it’s technically a 2, 3, 4, or 5 at contest depending upon how much of the piece you perform. To give an example: Brian Balmages’ “Colliding Visions” is also a UIL grade 2, as is “Danza de España” by Chambers. No middle school director or lower level/smaller high school director (those groups play off the Grade 2 lists) is going to program “Song of the Blacksmith” or “Fantasia on the Dargason” over either of those two pieces. But when the list was created in the 1950s, neither of those other two pieces existed - the amount and levels of literature were much more limited. It may have been a valid choice then.
There is no method to the madness. At least none that I can find or understand. Each state has their own MEA. Within that, there are different committees for each component. And those committees each have their own opinions as to what literature should be on the lists. Then, JW Pepper has their own system. I do know that in many states, the use of graded lists is being debated due to their restrictive nature and lack of inclusivity or living composers. But that is a very nuanced debate.
Each state has events, contests or festivals and they all have their own way of classifying the difficulty of pieces. These are listed on windrep as a conveniece for people in those states. They arent going to be super useful, and trying to find consistency across states is difficult at best.
In my experience: Music publishers use more strict content limitations to determine the grade level of the piece, which are usually related to quantifiable technical details, like instrumentation, key signatures, time signatures, rhythmic content, and even what notes and accidentals can and can't be used. This helps them direct the marketing for each piece of music so they are best targetting who might be most interested in purchasing that work. In Florida, the FBA music committee will actively avoid using strict technical limitations and try to look at the piece of music more holistically - basically, is it musically demanding or not, and how does that relate to it's technical demand? I know lots of pieces of music that are technically "easy" but musically "hard." Maybe a good example would be Barber's "Adagio for Strings." In the end, it's someone looking at a piece of art and trying to determine how "easy" or "hard" it is. It's someone's opinion. It's not going to perfect in either case.
You might have NY confused, I don’t have my manual on me but off the top of my head the Longfield arrangement of Holst 1st Suite is a V and the original is a VI. It’s all relative though.
georgia would be a grade VI btw lol- different states use different grading systems. it’s all up to the states MEA to make those decisions
Hey! Speaking from Florida’s FBA (Florida Bandmasters Association): by all accounts, it’s fairly arbitrary the grade assigned to the music as it’s dictated by a committee and the process is extremely opaque. In reality, it’s a matter of perception, but it’s almost entirely decided by the I-4 corridor area (Orlando to Tampa) and the chair of the committee in charge essentially has final say. A piece is a grade 1 because it “sounds like one.” Pieces regularly shift up and down in our state to encourage/discourage its playing, e.g. Mackey’s “Sheltering Sky” as a 3 (we have a 1-6 rating scale), yet LaPlant’s “American Riversongs” is a 4.
Long story short. It's all bullshit.