Concerto competition piece???

January 11, 2006 at 07:32 AM · How...Advanced are you? What are you working on?

You know what would be a great piece to play, Pagannini concerto no.1, perfectly...like Pagannini would have. Is that likely to happen? no...without knowing a little bit more it's hard to suggest a piece.

In general the pieces a High School student might play are the Bruch and Mendelssohn concertos (rather poorly), but I know a high school person who's playing the Brahms and one who's playing the Tchaikovsky. I also know one working on the Mozart 3, one working on Haydn, one working on one of the Weinowsky concertos... (and of course, each of these would be working on it in the context of working on it for the first time)

So a list of warhorses that might be doable:

Mozart 3, Mozart 4, Mozart 5, these would be tough to pull off well.

Mendelssohn

Bruch (these last two are played a lot, but they're beautiful. They will take time to learn if you haven't leared them yet. More than that, it would be impossibe to play them truely well after just a few months of study)

Beethoven (there is a "correct" way to play this, and you have to pull it off. If you don't the judges will hate you for it. It's just a hard piece to pull off period)

Tchaikovsky

Sibelius (if you can play these...go for it ^^, seriously...)

Most people I know who have won concerto competitions have been working on their concerti for several years by the time they compete. Either that or they're pianists (nothing againgt pianists ^^U)

January 11, 2006 at 08:16 AM · If you're a really advanced player, I would suggest a concerto from the following:

Tchaikovsky (Mov. 1 or 3)

Brahms (Mov. 1...3 is really tough)

Beethoven (any one!)

Paganini- Concerto 1 or 2 (any mvmt!)

Sibelius (3rd mvmt would be a shock-wave performance...)

but if you're "one step" lower:

Lalo- symphonie espagnole (1st mvmt.)

Wieniawski- Concerto #1 (3rd mvmt.)

Saint-Saens- Concerto #3 (b min.) (any)

Mozart- Concerto #5 (1st mvmt.)

Mend./Bruch 1st, or scottish fantasy (1st or 3rd mvmts...but they are VERY overplayed)

Vieuxtemps- Concerto #5 (3,4,5 mvmts...5th is a flasher!)

Kachaturian (sp.?)

Berg

Dvorak- Concerto

Dvorak- Romance

Prokofieff- 1st and 2nd

Barber

Or:

kabalevsky

hayden

Beriot- Scene de ballet or concerto #9

Vivaldi- 4 seasons

Do they allow "other" pieces for the violin...if so:

Sarasate- Ziguenerweisen

Sarasate- Carmen Fantasy

Waxman- Carmen Fantasy

Saint-Saens- Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso

Saint-Saens- Havanaise

Ravel- Tzigane

Chausson- Poeme

I believe these would be all "1st" place-potential pieces...

January 12, 2006 at 12:08 AM · If the world were perfect then you could do play almost anything and you would be judged on your playing ability, not just the piece. However, there are some pieces that are better than others. You want to look for a piece (or part of a piece) that shows the judges that you can play fast, that you can be musical, that you have a good sound, etc.... Look at what previous winners have won with- each year will be different, but you might be able to get a good idea. Whatever you do, do what will make you look good. Don't try the Sibelius if you don't feel you can play it really well, but don't choose something below your level because you'll be able to play it easier. Pick a challenge but a doable one. The best person to decide this for you is your teacher and yourself. Only your teacher is going to be able to let you know what your level is. If you play a piece that's appropriate for you and you put your heart into it, you should be well on your way. :)

January 12, 2006 at 12:50 AM · Mozart might be difficult to pull off for a competition. If you know how to play Mozart, then I would say to go for it. If you know some romatic era concertos like bruch or mendelssohn, you might prefer to play them.

I'm not sure that any of the Mozart concertos are competition winning pieces. I like what Joseph said about pianists winning competitions.

I would like to know other people's opinion on playing one of the Mozart Violin concertos for a competition. If you have something like Bruch, Lalo, Mendelssohn or something from the romantic period near that level, would you rather hear Mozart played well or the romantic concerto played well?

January 12, 2006 at 02:21 AM · well i'm also preparing for a competition. While many many people are playing big romantic concertos. I chose the vivaldi four seasons jsut because its so different. My teacher has been active on the committee for 20 years and he thinks this appraoch might success.

January 12, 2006 at 03:03 AM · Hi, I was wondering which competition you are preparing for? I'm from Alexandria, Virginia and I might know what kind of competition you might be looking at (I've did a few when I was younger too).

Oh, and as for teh Mozart concertos- they're dangerous unless you're really experienced. Mozart needs to be flawless- sound, intonation, and style. I generally have not found it to be great for competitions, particularly for younger students, but I have heard the occasional pre-teen or teenage violinist play Mozart extremely well (I'm referring to Judy Song, a very young violinist who has done quite well in some national competitions). It's hard to win with Mozart because it doesn't have a lot of "virtuosity for the sake of virtuosity", but it's really up to the individual.

January 12, 2006 at 03:26 AM · I won alot of competitions in highschool playing the tchaikovsky. Its great because its hard enough that you will be one of the only ones playing it, and every conductor wants to conduct it because if played well it can cause a huge standing ovation....... unfortunately its so damn hard.

something like saint saens, dvorak, or paganini work well too and they are not so hard to pull off

As the above poster said, sibelius would be almost an instant success if you could playan innovative version of it...... but dont play it if you dont feel your ready.

January 12, 2006 at 03:50 AM · remember, its how well u play a peice that makes it worth it...for instance right now I am playing haydn c major 1-3 mov. for recital...I'm 16 I have the ability to play sibelius tchiak...but repertoire building is the best thing u can do 4 urself...playing mendellssohn at age 8 nd having to play it again at age 16 was the worst thing that could've ever happened to me...So anyway my sugestion...bruch 3rd...lalo 5th....mozart 5th...<3 these peices ^_^

January 12, 2006 at 03:55 AM · wow...tchaik is not slow!!!!

January 12, 2006 at 05:03 AM · Another good choice if your looking for something not too hard, but not very often played is Barber violin concerto, or elgar....

January 12, 2006 at 06:48 AM · Mozart...What I hate about high school competitions is that you could never win with Mozart, I'm not even kidding. The only Mozart I have ever heard played as a concerto competition winning concerto was by a 8 year old pianist, and most likely they chose her for the shock value of her being 8.

Mozart 3, Mozart 4, Mozart 5...Mozart Clarinet concerti...Even Haydn's cello concerti (these I hear more often)...they're overshadowed by Saint-Saens. It's just that classical era pieces are less grand sounding. I mean, compare Mozart 4 to the Tchaikovsky for a minuite. Be honest with yourself, which will the common audience applaude for more? Yea, it shouldn't be that way at all, but it is. Same with Vivaldi, same with Bach...(I think this has partly to do with the fact that in earlier music theory the range of the instruments was kept strictly restricted, and of course other stuff as well)

There is the fact that this is Mozart's 250th birthday...so you might have a chance...then again, I play chamber music with an annual workshop, and this is the one year we're not playing any Mozart.

It's wrong, but you're judged more on your piece than your playing ability. If player A were to play the...the...let's say Tchaikovsky (since it's what I've been using) passably, barely what would be acceptable and somebody else were to play Mozart 5 ppperrrrfeeccttlly, I mean, intonation, expression, style, vibrato, bow control....

chances are, in a High School aged Concerto competition, player A will win.

That's how I feel about Mozart in Competitions, not enough...

January 12, 2006 at 08:05 AM · jordan,

dvorak and paganini are not hard to pull off? i'm jealous.

January 12, 2006 at 02:41 PM · Sounds like you need to get to practicing Sordsie :-)~

January 12, 2006 at 04:22 PM · Someone mentioned Sibelius. My teacher says you can't play Sibelius unless you are really mature in every way...phsycologically, emotionally...everything. I wouldn't really suggest that, but that's just my (and my teacher's!) opinion.

January 12, 2006 at 04:43 PM · If Andrew can't do paganini and dvorak easily then neither can I!

I think, although this is sometimes overlooked, about a lot of these pieces is that you CAN play the notes, minus a few. You can learn the notes in the Tchaikovsky, Paganini, and Dvorak. But you have to be able to bring these to life, meaning not only in the tempo but really in the music. This is why you'll see more people doing Mendellsohn, Bruch, and Lalo than Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, and Brahms. In all the competitions I was in, very few ever won with these kinds of pieces at that age because you really do need a certain maturity. Not that there aren't exceptions, but in general I feel that playing something like Lalo REALLY REALLY well will blow the judges over. Remember, they may hear the same four or five pieces all day, but they know the difference between somebody playing most of the notes and somebody playing all of the notes and really pushing it to that next level. You have to be brilliant, flashy, sophisticated, and deep to really stand out. That's why I think it doesn't necessarily matter what you play but how you play it. If you can do all of this with a higher difficulty piece then by all means do it! However, I have played a lot of concerti since Mendellsohn and I'm still afraid to go back and play it because it is so very difficult to pull off really well.

January 13, 2006 at 08:33 AM · well said