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PIANO: australian last 25 years?! (1 Viewer)

xxstef

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i'm starting to look for a good australian piano piece for next year, but there's so much to choose from at AMC and i have no idea where to start.
anyone have any suggestions, it'd be much appreciated! :)

preferably moderate to fast tempo, something exciting.
i finished my amus in may this year, so looking for something around amus/lmus level.

thanks!
 

xxstef

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some one, anyone, help please! im going to amc this week and need somewhere to start looking..
 

r.uss

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Look for piano works by Elena Kats-Chernin and Ross Edwards if you're not looking for anything too 'out there'. Sonny Chua also...

If you're willing to tackle something more avantgarde, try Westlake's sonatas, or Carl Vine's sonatas. Also, try Graham Hair's 'Under the Aldebaran'. Another of my favourites in this category would be Gordon Kerry's 'Figured in the Drift of Stars'. Just as a personal favourite is the music of Amanda Handel. Some of her works are magnificent.
 
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Kats-chernin's Russian Rag is quite popular if you're looking for something a little jazzy and not too avant-garde. Its on the AMUS syllabus so its at about the standard you're playing at...although its not that fast or exciting :(

Apparently Sculthorpe's Simori are quite dramatic...but I've never been able to find a recording
 

sparkerasp

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Silver Persian said:
Kats-chernin's Russian Rag is quite popular
Maybe a little too popular. I know a lot of people who play that song in their exam. For my exam this year I played Frangipani by Ross Edwards. If you type it into youtube you can see one of my friends playing it.

It's a really good piece and very nice to play. I loved it! I'm not sure what grade it is, but I'm doing my AMUSA as well.
 

xxstef

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yeah, something less popular would be nice.
the frangipani sounds good, thanks!
 

JonoMartinovici

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Hey,

Anything by Philip Wilcher is really great. His four Scherzos are really wonderful. I have a huge stack of his sheet music which he sent me - I somehow happened to get in contact with him. His works are incredibly mature.
His 'Sevent pieces after Monet' are also really beautiful, I'm playing one of them at the end of this term.

Also Wendy Hiscocks' 'Rainforest Toccata', which I'm also learning.

The music of Anne Carr-Boyd is very beautiful too. I've had a listen to a few of her pieces on the net, but not played any. But if you go on the Wirripang website, you'll find a whole stack of music on there of her's and many other Australian composers (which I'll hopefully be a part of if they accept my compositions in December!!).

But yes, very much recommend Philip Wilcher's music. It's available both from the Keys Press and Wirripang.

Jono
 

xxstef

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just another question, do we have to have the original copy of the music with us on the hsc performance exam day?
and do we need a copy for the examiners?

coz im finding the music is very expensive. so am considering borrowing?

oh, and regarding "frangipani" by ross edwards, do you think it is 'advanced' enough? what grade does it sound like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuo6mvVLMQ8
 

JonoMartinovici

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xxstef said:
just another question, do we have to have the original copy of the music with us on the hsc performance exam day?
and do we need a copy for the examiners?

coz im finding the music is very expensive. so am considering borrowing?

oh, and regarding "frangipani" by ross edwards, do you think it is 'advanced' enough? what grade does it sound like?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuo6mvVLMQ8
You can play the entire exam completely from memory if you really want to, no scores attached!
The examiners just mark based on the performance. I don't really think they'd be so focussed on whether or not your playing is noteperfect.

I'm not really good at judging what grade level a piece is - I find that I'm often wrong whenever I try. I just learn pieces. I usually just put out of my mind the possible difficulty of a piece so then I just learn it for what it is. This is getting harder to do these days though since I'm doing my Amus and the pieces are just....well....I've learnt most of them, but Debussy's Passepied just requires so much control, but I enjoy it.
What grade are you in?
 

sparkerasp

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just another question, do we have to have the original copy of the music with us on the hsc performance exam day?
No.

xxstef said:
oh, and regarding "frangipani" by ross edwards, do you think it is 'advanced' enough? what grade does it sound like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yuo6mvVLMQ8
The quality of that youtube video is not great at all, but if executed well (like I did :shy:) than it sounds spectacular! The thing I've found with most modern music is that the technical aspect is not as important. It's more of the execution that really matters.

I mean, for my trial and pre-trial practicals my Frangipani got full marks from all examiners (4 external and 2 internal) so I reckon it's more the execution.

Simply remember that even though the technicality of a piece is important, the way you implement and feel it is most vital. Anyone can learn and play Mozart's Sonata in CM K545, but if you can really perfect the notes (i.e. clarity, etc) and implement your own feelings and interpretations into your performance, you'll play equally as good as a recording (metaphorically speaking).
 
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specky2009

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Frangipani by Ross Edwards is a brilliant piece and is great for expression. I played it in first term for my year ten music performance and it was great. My sister also played it for her actual year 12 HSC performance and got into the Conservatorium of Music, so it's a pretty good piece to pick. Not many people know of it and wouldn't pick it so you would stand out if you do it well!
GOOD LUCK!!!
 

xxstef

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Frangipani by Ross Edwards is a brilliant piece and is great for expression. I played it in first term for my year ten music performance and it was great. My sister also played it for her actual year 12 HSC performance and got into the Conservatorium of Music, so it's a pretty good piece to pick. Not many people know of it and wouldn't pick it so you would stand out if you do it well!
GOOD LUCK!!!
haha, i did end up playing it for my hsc this year, was great :)
highly recommended!
 

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