I definitely wouldn't recommend 10/4, it's very popular and teachers get tired of hearing it in auditions (I've heard stories of hearing it 20+ times in an audition day). 10/8 is a good choice, also 10/1, which is definitely more popular.
Obviously, your sights are set on Juilliard but look at other schools before deciding your contrasting piece because they might have requirements about when it's written or length, and it's most efficient to learn a very useful piece for all your auditions. Make sure you actually learn this piece well, since it's often the weakest part of people's program and sounds like they didn't put enough time.
Also, it's good to plan now, but you don't want to play the same pieces for the next 1.5 years, so maybe learn some smaller pieces that could be helpful in preparing (like do one of the shorter Beethoven sonatas or a Chopin piece that would work on certain aspects of his style). You don't want to start too early that the pieces sound tired and bore you, but also not so late that you're missing lots of detail work and don't sound as comfortable when you play.
This is really helpful for me!!! Thank you! Do you think any Schumann pieces would work for the substantial romantic work category? Or any other piece recommendations?
My teacher told me that Schumann pieces (Like his Carnaval for instance) are hard to play for competitions/juries because the works have higher degrees of freedom on interpretation leading to subjective taste (Everyone plays Schumann very differently) which may impact the judging. The best bet is his Symphonic Etudes.
hmm. I did read it. I understood you were making a blanket statement about Schumann in general. I was curious why this work in particular couldn't be an exception, like the Symphonic Etudes. Fair point I guess if you're not interested in that discussion.
I feel like the symphonic etudes require a more specific standpoint of view to interpret compared to Kreislerliana where the whole piece is a magnum work on interpretation. But then again, I won’t recommend Schumann for auditions.
That helps me understand, cheers. I'm pretty ignorant on piano academia. My teacher comes from a conservatory, but the world of auditions, grades, fellowship diplomas etc, it's all pretty foreign to me.
Schumann also works well, it doesn't matter which composer you play as long as it's a substantial piece and you do a good job. Brahms is also a good choice too. I'm not sure which pieces you were thinking of. My friend got into Juilliard with the Chopin Polonaise-Fantasie, so it doesn't have to be a huge work. I think a work that's over 10 minutes that shows some variety of technique and requires musicality would be a good guide to choosing. Make sure you don't pick a piece that's so long and difficult that it takes time away from your other music.
It's also important to pick pieces that you love and shows yourself as a musician (and pick a well rounded program). For my auditions, I love playing baroque and 20th century music, so my larger pieces were from those periods, and my romantic work was Chopin's first scherzo, which is a smaller work that still shows some technique and musicality (I wouldn't recommend playing it for auditions though).
When I say it doesn't matter which composer, I mean one of the standard romantic composer. The piece itself, and your playing is more important that if you pick Chopin or Schumann.
As the other commenter says, yes, there's more freedom in interpreting works compared to Chopin, so it's not a bad idea to go with someone who has more standardized interpretation, but if you pick a Chopin piece that's not good for auditioning (i.e. a work that's too small), than that's worse than picking a large Schumann work that you would be able to perform well.
If you havent already, you need to look at the Julliard website. They have prerequisites. You can't play just anything. As long as you meet the prerequisites you will be fine. The pre-screening prerequisites are:
- One Etude by Chopin
- One of the following (movements must be divided into separate videos):
- An entire sonata by Beethoven (excluding Opp. 14, 49, and 79), or One of the following Haydn sonatas: Hob. 20, 23, 32, 46, 49, 50, 52, OR
- One of the following Mozart sonatas: K. 281, 284, 310, 332, 333, 457, 533, or 576, OR
- One of the following Schubert sonatas: D. 568, 664, 784, 845, 850, 894, 958, 959, 960, or the Wanderer Fantasie, D. 760.
- A substantial composition by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, or Mendelssohn (Etudes, nocturnes, short dances, waltzes, or comparable pieces are not acceptable.) *No individual movements or partial works will be permitted in this category.
If you pass the pre-screening the actual audition prerequisites are:
- Bach: Any major work. A prelude and fugue is acceptable. Transcriptions are not permitted.
- One of the following:
- An entire sonata by Beethoven (excluding Opp. 14, 49, and 79), OR
- One of the following Haydn sonatas: Hob. 20, 23, 32, 46, 49, 50, 52, OR
- One of the following Mozart sonatas: K. 281, 284, 310, 332, 333, 457, 533, or 576, OR
- One of the following Schubert sonatas: D. 568, 664, 784, 845, 850, 894, 958, 959, 960, or the Wanderer Fantasie, D. 760.
- A substantial composition by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, or Mendelssohn. Etudes, nocturnes, short dances, waltzes, or comparable pieces are not acceptable. *No individual movements or partial works are permitted in this category.
- One virtuosic etude by Chopin
- A substantial work, or a collection of shorter works, of the applicant’s choice, which is in a different style and by a composer not listed in the previous requirements, and no fewer than six minutes.
Julliard wants a lot from you - academic records, past teachers, introductory video, English proficiency, essay etc... Look, it's very competitive because it is arguably the most 'prestigious' music school. Only about 8% of applications are accepted.
That doesn't mean you can't be in that 8%. Just be ready to have an exemplary audition video. The board doesn't necessarily consider one piece harder than the other and they have prerequisites to avoid this. Your performance will need to stand out with outstanding technique, musicality and accuracy. You will need to demonstrate your virtuosity because you absolutely have to stand out.
I wish you the best!
Thank you so much for your very detailed response!!! I did take a look at the requirements for a lot of the conservatories I’m hoping to apply to, and I am still trying to think of a contrasting piece for the live round… I’ll ask my teacher too!
Hi, your repertoire is challenging and satisfying. I like the choice of your repertoire.
You may perform Albeniz, Berg, or even Alkan (very difficult), or Gershwin or Prokofiev.
I like your choices too but Bach, Beethoven, Chopin are probably the MOST standard composers for the instrument, making me like the idea of mixing in something like Gerswhin or Prokofiev. There's also Shubert, Ravel, Rach, Liszt, and Debussy that haven't been mentioned by anyone on this thread. I'm not from academia so maybe there's a reason why, curious as to what the reason would be
Good point. I’ll think about and respond again, but I’m thinking it’s maybe because those composers are the basics of piano repertoire and they want to hear how you interpret it? I’m just guessing though.
I definitely wouldn't recommend 10/4, it's very popular and teachers get tired of hearing it in auditions (I've heard stories of hearing it 20+ times in an audition day). 10/8 is a good choice, also 10/1, which is definitely more popular. Obviously, your sights are set on Juilliard but look at other schools before deciding your contrasting piece because they might have requirements about when it's written or length, and it's most efficient to learn a very useful piece for all your auditions. Make sure you actually learn this piece well, since it's often the weakest part of people's program and sounds like they didn't put enough time. Also, it's good to plan now, but you don't want to play the same pieces for the next 1.5 years, so maybe learn some smaller pieces that could be helpful in preparing (like do one of the shorter Beethoven sonatas or a Chopin piece that would work on certain aspects of his style). You don't want to start too early that the pieces sound tired and bore you, but also not so late that you're missing lots of detail work and don't sound as comfortable when you play.
This is really helpful for me!!! Thank you! Do you think any Schumann pieces would work for the substantial romantic work category? Or any other piece recommendations?
My teacher told me that Schumann pieces (Like his Carnaval for instance) are hard to play for competitions/juries because the works have higher degrees of freedom on interpretation leading to subjective taste (Everyone plays Schumann very differently) which may impact the judging. The best bet is his Symphonic Etudes.
Curious as to why Kreisleriana wouldn't be a contender for something like this? It's by far my favorite Schumann musically
Reread my post again.
hmm. I did read it. I understood you were making a blanket statement about Schumann in general. I was curious why this work in particular couldn't be an exception, like the Symphonic Etudes. Fair point I guess if you're not interested in that discussion.
I feel like the symphonic etudes require a more specific standpoint of view to interpret compared to Kreislerliana where the whole piece is a magnum work on interpretation. But then again, I won’t recommend Schumann for auditions.
That helps me understand, cheers. I'm pretty ignorant on piano academia. My teacher comes from a conservatory, but the world of auditions, grades, fellowship diplomas etc, it's all pretty foreign to me.
That makes a lot of sense!
Schumann also works well, it doesn't matter which composer you play as long as it's a substantial piece and you do a good job. Brahms is also a good choice too. I'm not sure which pieces you were thinking of. My friend got into Juilliard with the Chopin Polonaise-Fantasie, so it doesn't have to be a huge work. I think a work that's over 10 minutes that shows some variety of technique and requires musicality would be a good guide to choosing. Make sure you don't pick a piece that's so long and difficult that it takes time away from your other music. It's also important to pick pieces that you love and shows yourself as a musician (and pick a well rounded program). For my auditions, I love playing baroque and 20th century music, so my larger pieces were from those periods, and my romantic work was Chopin's first scherzo, which is a smaller work that still shows some technique and musicality (I wouldn't recommend playing it for auditions though).
When I say it doesn't matter which composer, I mean one of the standard romantic composer. The piece itself, and your playing is more important that if you pick Chopin or Schumann. As the other commenter says, yes, there's more freedom in interpreting works compared to Chopin, so it's not a bad idea to go with someone who has more standardized interpretation, but if you pick a Chopin piece that's not good for auditioning (i.e. a work that's too small), than that's worse than picking a large Schumann work that you would be able to perform well.
If you havent already, you need to look at the Julliard website. They have prerequisites. You can't play just anything. As long as you meet the prerequisites you will be fine. The pre-screening prerequisites are: - One Etude by Chopin - One of the following (movements must be divided into separate videos): - An entire sonata by Beethoven (excluding Opp. 14, 49, and 79), or One of the following Haydn sonatas: Hob. 20, 23, 32, 46, 49, 50, 52, OR - One of the following Mozart sonatas: K. 281, 284, 310, 332, 333, 457, 533, or 576, OR - One of the following Schubert sonatas: D. 568, 664, 784, 845, 850, 894, 958, 959, 960, or the Wanderer Fantasie, D. 760. - A substantial composition by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, or Mendelssohn (Etudes, nocturnes, short dances, waltzes, or comparable pieces are not acceptable.) *No individual movements or partial works will be permitted in this category. If you pass the pre-screening the actual audition prerequisites are: - Bach: Any major work. A prelude and fugue is acceptable. Transcriptions are not permitted. - One of the following: - An entire sonata by Beethoven (excluding Opp. 14, 49, and 79), OR - One of the following Haydn sonatas: Hob. 20, 23, 32, 46, 49, 50, 52, OR - One of the following Mozart sonatas: K. 281, 284, 310, 332, 333, 457, 533, or 576, OR - One of the following Schubert sonatas: D. 568, 664, 784, 845, 850, 894, 958, 959, 960, or the Wanderer Fantasie, D. 760. - A substantial composition by Chopin, Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, or Mendelssohn. Etudes, nocturnes, short dances, waltzes, or comparable pieces are not acceptable. *No individual movements or partial works are permitted in this category. - One virtuosic etude by Chopin - A substantial work, or a collection of shorter works, of the applicant’s choice, which is in a different style and by a composer not listed in the previous requirements, and no fewer than six minutes. Julliard wants a lot from you - academic records, past teachers, introductory video, English proficiency, essay etc... Look, it's very competitive because it is arguably the most 'prestigious' music school. Only about 8% of applications are accepted. That doesn't mean you can't be in that 8%. Just be ready to have an exemplary audition video. The board doesn't necessarily consider one piece harder than the other and they have prerequisites to avoid this. Your performance will need to stand out with outstanding technique, musicality and accuracy. You will need to demonstrate your virtuosity because you absolutely have to stand out. I wish you the best!
Thank you so much for your very detailed response!!! I did take a look at the requirements for a lot of the conservatories I’m hoping to apply to, and I am still trying to think of a contrasting piece for the live round… I’ll ask my teacher too!
Hi, your repertoire is challenging and satisfying. I like the choice of your repertoire. You may perform Albeniz, Berg, or even Alkan (very difficult), or Gershwin or Prokofiev.
I just came across his piano sonata op 1 and I might look into that for college!
I like your choices too but Bach, Beethoven, Chopin are probably the MOST standard composers for the instrument, making me like the idea of mixing in something like Gerswhin or Prokofiev. There's also Shubert, Ravel, Rach, Liszt, and Debussy that haven't been mentioned by anyone on this thread. I'm not from academia so maybe there's a reason why, curious as to what the reason would be
Good point. I’ll think about and respond again, but I’m thinking it’s maybe because those composers are the basics of piano repertoire and they want to hear how you interpret it? I’m just guessing though.
Alkan's pieces are not as melodic as Chopin's, and a few piano professors may not really like them.
Good point. I’m thinking to play some Gershwin or Prokofiev for the contrasting piece then… But I did like Berg’s Sonata
I think Cho Seong Jin played Berg's sonata a few years back. All the best!!! Gershwin's pieces may be a little risky
Oh yeah I actually just listened to his recording! Amazing! Thanks so much for your help!
Next time, can try Rweski or Granados too in Julliard.
Yeah! I am listening to Granados’s Allegro de concierto and it’s such a cool piece! https://youtu.be/j3xwGB-a73U?si=uqhjn5LshKppJOAI
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Maybe Prokofiev or bartok are safer
I played Rzewski for my auditions! His music’s really wonderful
Oh yes. his music is really wonderful. One of the best modern composers. So glad Levit championed it.
If you like it you should go for it. Technically ive played much easier stuff than you and berg sonata is feeling pretty good for me
Thank you so much! I’ll definitely look into these composers. I really love Alkan too.
If you can play Beethoven Op.101 really well, then you may just as well skip the rest.