Conservatory Regulations Information

The canonical path is, after middle school, to attend a music high school

Even if this does not guarantee entry into academic courses.

The canonical path is the conservatory, since musical high schools at the current state are neither meat (meaning they provide mediocre humanistic-scientific preparation given the few hours) nor fish (meaning they provide insufficient musical preparation to enter academic courses).

Therefore, unless one is already very advanced, [consider] pre-academic courses: for info, you must contact your own conservatory since these courses differ in every institute.

The conservatory no longer exists at age 14... except for pre-academic courses, which, like high schools, provide no guarantee of entering the conservatory since spots are always limited (well, I'm not arguing).

Once you have obtained your high school diploma (see secondary school level 2, which includes Licei), all that remains is to take the entrance exams for first-level academic courses, the infamous three-year programs, for which a basic preparation is required, roughly equivalent to completing what is now the retired old system

If high schools and pre-academic courses are not enough, private teaching always exists

The conservatory exists at 14 years old and even at 13-12.. how many musical geniuses graduated at that age? Not many, but some exist.. well, the law speaks of "precocious talents" who can enter academic courses ahead of the standard 16-17 years (= high school, since for the qualification to be valid, a high school diploma is required): they will simply obtain a musical qualification that will become more extensive after high school. But I believe that for those people, the qualification serves very little: Leonora Armellini is proof of that.

Videoclip wrote:

...the notorious three-year programs, for which a basic preparation is required that revolves around the average completion of the now retired old system...

"Revolves"... I would say it is a veeeery distant relative.

Old system middle completion exam

1. Performance of a Domenico Scarlatti sonata of a brilliant character, drawn by lot on the spot from three presented by the candidate.

2. Performance of an étude drawn by lot twenty-four hours in advance from études no. 2, 5, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, 26, 30, 32, 36, 44, 47, 58, 63, 65, 78, 86, 87, 88, 95, 96, of Clementi's "Gradus ad Parnassum".

Performance of a Prelude and Fugue drawn by lot twenty-four hours in advance from a selection of twenty-four Preludes and Fugues made by the candidate (twelve in the first volume and twelve in the second) from J. S. Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier".

3. Performance of an étude drawn by lot from two of different authors chosen by the candidate from the following works: Moscheles - One of the three études no. 1, 3, 23, of op. 70.

Czerny - Toccata in C major.

Kessler - One of the three études in F minor, C major, and C minor (octaves).

Mendelssohn - Étude in B-flat minor - Prelude in B minor from op. 104 (choice)

Thalberg - First étude of op. 26. Rubinstein - One étude of op. 23.

4. Performance of a Beethoven Sonata chosen by the candidate from the following: no. 3, 4, 7, 8, 12, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 26.

5. Performance of a composition chosen by the candidate from the following:

Weber - Finale of the 1st Sonata (molto perpetuo); Polonaise in E major

Schubert - Impromptu in A-flat major op. 142

Mendelssohn - Variations sérieuses; Scherzo e capriccio in F-sharp minor; Rondò Capriccioso.

Schumann - Romanze in D minor (op. 32 no. 3); In der Nacht - Traumes Wirren - Aufschwung (from Fantasiestücke op. 12); Novelletta in D major (op. 21 no. 2)

Chopin - One of the following Études: Op. 10: no. 3, 5, 8; Op. 25 no. 1, 2, 9; I - Impromptu in G-flat no. 3, II - Ballade no. 1 in G minor, III - Ballade no. 3 in A-flat, IV - Berceuse, V - Scherzo in B minor, VI - Scherzo in C-sharp minor, VII - Andante spianato and Polonaise brillante in E-flat major op. 22

6. Performance of a composition chosen by the candidate from the following:

Brahms - Two Rhapsodies op. 79; Capriccio in B minor; Intermezzi op. 117, Gluck / Saint-Saens - Capriccio on "Alceste"

Sgambati - Melodic Étude.

Martucci - Étude op. 47.

Debussy - Jardins sous la pluie; Danseuses de Delphe.

Ravel - Minuetto et Rigaudon from Tombeau de Couperin.

7. Interpretation of a composition assigned by the Commission three hours before the exam and prepared by the candidate in a dedicated room provided with a piano.

Culture tests:

a) Sight-reading of a piece of medium difficulty.

Discussion on questions concerning technique: performance of diatonic and chromatic scales in double thirds and double sixths. Fingering of a piano piece. Interpretation of ornaments.

c) Lesson essay to be given to a student from the first to the sixth year. Demonstrate knowledge of the origin and development of the piano, the literature of the instrument, citing the themes of the most important works and some of their more characteristic details, with particular regard to the literature of the piano concerto and orchestra.

Admission exam for the three-year Level I program at the S. Cecilia Conservatory

ADMISSION EXAM PROGRAM

1. Performance of an étude drawn by lot from 6 presented by the candidate, of which 4 are taken from Clementi's "Gradus ad Parnassum" (of a brilliant character) and 2 from the romantic and/or modern and/or contemporary period of an appropriate level for the requested admission;

2. Performance of 1 Prelude and Fugue drawn by lot from 3 presented by the candidate from J.S. Bach's "The Well-Tempered Clavier";

3. Performance of the 1st movement of a Beethoven sonata (excluding op. 27 no. 2, 49, 79)

4. Performance of a piece composed in the 1800s;

5. Performance of a piece composed from the 1900s to today (published compositions)

N.B. The commission has the faculty to interrupt individual tests (without censoring any of them)

Evidently there is a difference between difficulty level and workload

damn, I didn't know they had removed the scales too... what can I say, I only trust that there are still many candidates at a level higher than this

It's not that the scales were being prepared for the fifth, given that the admission level (in terms of difficulty) was around the seventh... are they taken for granted?

Videoclip wrote:

Evidently there is a difference between difficulty level and workload

Sorry, actually with the spoiler it's not possible to make a proper comparison. The difficulty level is always the same because they are always the same authors and groups, like the average completion of the old system, but it will perhaps be one twentieth in terms of workload...

Ray1 wrote:

It's not that the scales were being prepared for the fifth, given that the admission level (in terms of difficulty) was around the seventh... are they taken for granted?

For the fifth, the scales were for contrary parallel motion, for thirds and sixths. At the eighth-year level, for double thirds and double sixths...

Zedef wrote:

The conservatory exists at 14 years old and even at 13-12.. how many musical geniuses graduated at that age? Not very many, but some exist.. well, the law speaks of "early talents" who can enter academic courses ahead of the standard 16-17 years (= high school, since for the qualification to be valid, a high school diploma is required): they will simply obtain a musical qualification that will become more extensive after high school. But I believe that for those people, the qualification is of little use: Leonora Armellini is proof.

Yes Zedef, but they asked me for my high school diploma, otherwise they wouldn't even have taken my application... and consequently, without it, I wouldn't have been able to take the admission tests.

How can they know I am a half-genius if they don't see me at work? And if I am, what do I care about a conservatory diploma?

DPR 212 of 2005, art. 7 paragraph 3, which is the current regulation in force, states: "Music Conservatories, recognized musical institutes and the National Academy of Dance also admit to academic first-level diploma courses students with outstanding abilities and aptitudes, even if they lack a high school diploma, which is nonetheless necessary for obtaining the academic diploma". Conservatories live and will live based on the numbers of academic courses, so everyone (or almost everyone, as I understand it) has applied the provided exception (among other things, "outstanding abilities and aptitudes" does not absolutely mean "unique cases"). If they didn't do it in yours, then too bad for them.