Posted by lisa on June 12, 2002 at 07:27:03:
In Reply to: Re: College Audition/Senior Recital Rep. posted by J. Beish on June 11, 2002 at 23:17:21:
I agree 100% with Justin.
Having gained some experience through 8 years of school, here are my opinions / experiences... Taking an extremely high level piece and going in and saying "I'm playing the *insert very difficult piece of choice*," will not be impressive unless you can play it the way it is meant to be played. Maybe you have the ability to do that, and if you do, then by all means do it! I have just seen times where someone who is not prepared for a certain level of piece will just go at it and not do so well with it. (Hey, it's happened to me in the past...) I feel very strongly that playing this instrument and the repertoire is more than playing the notes. As players we must have a sense of musical maturity, enough to add the emotional side to the piece that makes it "our own". To me this is just as important to hear as technicality. It takes a certain level of musician to accomplish everything in a piece, and that should be factored in if an effective performance is desired. (Again, I don't know what your level is, so please don't take any of this as personal. I'm just speaking from a general standpoint.)
My suggestion is to in the meantime check out some of the different suggested pieces here, and some that sound interesting to you. If you are playing contrabass only, consider that as a factor as well. Playing something like Penderecki on contrabass can indeed be done, but it might "use up" your chops a lot faster,and may not be the best showcase for your playing.
I like the idea of contrasting works, check out the competition repertoire from the past years for a good indication of what some of these works might be. Find some of these works somewhere, read through them, and decide what you like, and what you feel comfortable with. At that point, make your decision and focus. Also don't overlook the etudes, like Justin said.
Consider other elements of auditions like scales, excerpts, and sightreading, and be sure to devote time to those as well. I would think that even if you can nail a really hard solo, if you aren't prepared in the other areas, it might take credibility away from your playing overall. I guess the moral is to not pick something so difficult that it will detract from dedication to the other aspects of your playing, which happens sometimes...
Just my ideas, for what they're worth.