Admission to the Naples Conservatory

It seems to me that the order in which the programs are presented is already more or less arranged by difficulty.

SUFFICIENT

Harpsichordists of the Neapolitan school. I would keep Domenico Scarlatti in all three cases.

Etudes: Cramer

Bach: Three-part inventions

Sonatas: Haydn

Romantic piece: Schubert - Impromptu Op. 90 no. 2

INTERMEDIATE

Etudes: Moscheles - Clementi - Czerny

Bach: The Well-Tempered Clavier

Sonatas: Mozart, selected from the non-difficult ones: K. 545 - K. 283

Romantic piece: Chopin - Berceuse

ADVANCED

Etudes: Chopin op. 10/25 - Liszt transcendental etudes, or the étude de concert (In my opinion, Un sospiro or Légèreté are the most beautiful).

Bach - Partitas

Sonatas: Beethoven - op. 110 - op. 111

Romantic piece: Chopin - Ballades, sonatas

Keep in mind, however, that this program is very demanding; it is all material typically performed for a diploma.

I would advise you to do a mix. Don't perform everything difficult; you can choose one difficult piece where you demonstrate that you can also engage with important repertoire, but repertoire like this, as I was saying, is performed for a diploma and only the best performers play it!

Read the works from left to right and you will have the order of difficulty.

For Beethoven, you can refer to this list ordered by difficulty

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/1945-le-sonate-di-beethoven/?hl=liszt&do=findComment&comment=15983

> Performance of a romantic or modern piece (from 1800 onwards, provided it is published)

This has always seemed like nonsense to me; the fact that a piece is published is no guarantee of anything, much as it might be useful to listen to some composers from the forum, perhaps a gem will turn up.

Thank you so much! your advice is more precious to me than gold

I had thought of Beethoven's Sonata No. 14 "Moonlight"...

obviously all the movements that make up this work:

Adagio sostenuto

Allegretto (in D-flat major)
Presto agitato

can it work?

Personally I would avoid it...

Bringing one of Beethoven's latest sonatas to an entrance exam program is, in my opinion, very risky; if your level is intermediate, I would do:

- Scarlatti

- 5 studies from the Gradus and 1 Moscheles, Chopin, Liszt (depending on your strengths)

- Bach 2-3 preludes and fugues and the rest inventions or suites

- Beethoven one of the sonatas among Op. 10 no. 1 or 2 or 3, Op. 13, Op. 27 no. 1, Op. 28, Op. 31 no. 1 or 2 or 3

- As a romantic piece, a Chopin scherzo, or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6, or Funérailles, or a concert piece from the years of pilgrimage (the ballads are musically deeper than the scherzos, so I would avoid them for an entrance exam), or 1 or 2 pieces from Debussy's Images/Estampes, or a Rachmaninov prelude

In my opinion, the more humble you are at an entrance exam, the greater the possibility of getting in; calling repertoire "easy," "medium," or "excellent" is somewhat trivial.

the more humble one is at an entrance exam, the more the possibility of getting in increases in my opinion; calling repertoire "easy", "medium" or "excellent" is a bit of nonsense

so should I avoid bringing Bach's English Suite No. 2?

as for the tempo on the score, it says 116 quarter notes and so far I can manage 110.... will the conservatory professors be strict or will they let me pass with 110?

Forget the metronomic indications, Bach is also on Mozart

ga3tan0 wrote:

so I should avoid playing Bach's English Suite No. 2?

as a tempo on the sheet music, it gives me 116 for the quarter note and so far I can only reach 110.... are the conservatory professors being strict, or will they let me pass with 110?

There are no absolute tempos in music; the right tempo for a piece depends on an 'infinity of factors.'

If you use an edition that includes metronome markings, throw it away. The phrasing and everything else will surely turn out to be questionable.

ttw wrote:

There are no absolute speeds in music; the right tempo of a piece depends on an ‘infinity of factors.

If you use an edition with metronome markings indicated, throw it away. The phrasing and everything else will certainly turn out to be questionable.

it is interesting to evaluate the speed of a piece based on an infinity of factors, but in this case of Bach's English Suite No. 2, which factor can be considered?

Why throw away an edition with metronome markings?

Why for 3/4 it is the result of the editor and almost certainly involves nineteenth-century style interpretations that are now widely outdated (or at least should be)

Using an Urtext is definitely much more difficult without a doubt, it is much more arbitrary, but I am using it right now on Mozart's sonatas and sub fortepiano... the difference is certainly felt... I am studying K 283 for an essay in a few weeks and it seems like something completely different now... regarding the metronome... they are often too fast or too slow... not to mention that the musician's interpretation always makes the difference

ga3tan0 wrote:

it is interesting to evaluate the tempo of a piece from an infinite number of factors, but in this case of Bach's English Suite No. 2, which factor can be considered?

Why throw away an edition with metronome indications?

Only a few parameters: type of articulation, phrasing, sound, (not to be overlooked) room acoustics, etc.

Bach did not indicate a metronome, so if you find them in the score they are the result of revisors; typically revisors operated this way in a period when there was no philological sensitivity.

Therefore, you must draw from treatises that describe performance practice or go to lessons with someone who knows it

In this regard, I point out

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/2307-il-revisore-questo-sconosciuto/

For Bach

www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/3293-bach-invenzioni-e-due-voci-e-sinfonie-quale-edizione

I also agree with the indications provided to you by ttw and antares. Metronomic indications aside, when you beat your head against a composer so much and begin to know them properly, you feel the right tempo inside yourself. A moment comes when you realize it couldn't be any different from the tempo you have chosen, neither faster nor slower.

If we want to find some objectivity, the discussion could turn toward the intelligibility of the phrase, the execution of the embellishments, the breathing, etc. In short, there are many indicators...

To learn how to play Bach or even Mozart, one should at least know the treatises of Quantz, Leopold Mozart, and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, and it would also be preferable to know those of Rameau and Couperin...

For the Baroque period, the treatises had been listed by Frank in this topic

http://www.pianoconcerto.it/forum/index.php?/topic/759-il-punto-di-valore/

I am reposting

Frank wrote:

FRANK:

Regarding the treatises, apart from that of CPE Bach (mentioned in passing by "Vale") composed of 2 volumes, the second of which is very interesting because it deals with Basso Continuo, one can delve much deeper into Baroque performance practice (including embellishments, another thorny subject) also through the treatises of Türk, Telemann and Mattheson.

For those who are particularly masochistic (missing the smile with a sadistic grin, eh eh), there is also that of the musicologist Hans Klotz.

Piano masters, I thank you infinitely for your advice, I will treasure it, and even if I do not become important like each of you has become, at least perhaps I will have the satisfaction of passing the exams.... thanks again

pianothor wrote:

Bringing one of Beethoven's latest sonatas to an entrance audition, in my opinion, is very risky; if your level is intermediate, I would do:

- Scarlatti

- 5 studies from the Gradus and 1 Moscheles, Chopin, Liszt (depending on your strengths)

- Bach 2-3 preludes and fugues, and the rest inventions or suites

- Beethoven one of the sonatas among Op. 10 no. 1 or 2 or 3, Op. 13, Op. 27 no. 1, Op. 28, Op. 31 no. 1 or 2 or 3

- As a romantic piece, a Chopin scherzo, or Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody no. 6, or Funérailles, or a concert piece from the years of pilgrimage (the ballads are musically deeper than the scherzos, so I would avoid them for an audition), or 1 or 2 pieces from Debussy's Images/Estampes, or a Rachmaninoff prelude

the more humble one is at an entrance exam, the greater the possibility of getting in, in my opinion; "easy," "medium," or "excellent" repertoire is somewhat of a nonsense

regarding Rachmaninoff ... I like these pieces:

Kreisler-Rachmaninoff: Liebesleid

Rachmaninoff Prelude in G minor op. 23 no. 5

in your opinion, are they unsuitable or too demanding for an audition?

Question: why do you complicate your life with diploma pieces? Ahahaha

From the question you are asking me, I deduce that it is a very demanding piece....

Answer to the question: I have discovered that when a piece connects with me emotionally and I experience it as if it were speaking, as energy that allows the sound to manifest, as inspiration and tension, as a creative act, even if it complicates my life in learning it, I perform it better than a very easy piece that tells me nothing.

So I ask myself: is all this normal?