Conservatoire audition advice

[Elijah Fynmore]

Hi everyone,

I'm applying to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for a traditional music degree with a mandolin specialism and a mandolin performance degree. I'm comfortable with the audition for the traditional degree, I'm very handy with jigs and reels and whatnot. I am, however, somewhat worried about the performance degree. I'm having trouble finding some recommended repertoire pieces for it and I was wondering if anyone here who has done a mandolin performance degree at a conservatory might be able to help. The pieces I'm working on at the moment that I'm the most comfortable with are:

Calace, Bolero

Bach, bouree I and II from Cello suite 3, BWV 1009

Vivaldi, violin concert in A minor RV 356

Vivaldi, lute concerto in D major, RV 93

Vivaldi, mandolin concerto in C major, RV 425

Scarlatti, sonata K89 first movement.

Some other pieces I've been looking at that I think might work are

Beethoven, sonatine for mandolin and piano, WoO 44a

Bach, concerto for violin in A minor, BWV 1041, 1st and 3rd movement

The Allemande from Bach's 2nd partita

Bach, violin concerto in D minor, BWV 1052, first movement.

Any indication of whether I'm on the right track or need to work on some more demanding pieces would be appreciated. I've been playing for nearly a year after about 13 years of guitar.

[John Kelly]

Is there nothing available from the RCS syllabus? A few years ago I was working with a young student who was doing his Standard Grade Music in school here in Scotland. I was teaching him mandolin at the time (I was an English teacher, recently retired, but was very involved in music outside my professional existence) and having worked with several pupils who were doing Standard Grade with guitar as their main instrument I was used to the very comprehensive syllabus that existed on the SQA (the Scottish Qualifications Authority) syllabus for guitar; when I looked online there was no material available for traditional mandolin! We had to create a course and I worked with the music department using the guitar syllabus as a guide. The course was externally verified and the pupil in question gained a Credit pass at the end of the year. It seems that no-one had offered mandolin as an option previously, and this might well be what you are coming against here even at RCS degree level. The mandolin, at least in traditional terms, is maybe still outside the mainstream of trad instruments which may well be dominated by the fiddle and accordion and bagpipes.

I know you are certainly looking at classical music as well, as your list indicates, and maybe there is something for you over on the Classical, Italian, Renaissance and Medieval section of the forum here on the cafe. Sorry to be of so little help, but I feel for you in your quest!

[Denny Gies]

Cool. I don't know anything about classical music for the mandolin but just wanted to wish you good luck.

[Elijah Fynmore]

Is there nothing available from the RCS syllabus? A few years ago I was working with a young student who was doing his Standard Grade Music in school here in Scotland. I was teaching him mandolin at the time (I was an English teacher, recently retired, but was very involved in music outside my professional existence) and having worked with several pupils who were doing Standard Grade with guitar as their main instrument I was used to the very comprehensive syllabus that existed on the SQA (the Scottish Qualifications Authority) syllabus for guitar; when I looked online there was no material available for traditional mandolin! We had to create a course and I worked with the music department using the guitar syllabus as a guide. The course was externally verified and the pupil in question gained a Credit pass at the end of the year. It seems that no-one had offered mandolin as an option previously, and this might well be what you are coming against here even at RCS degree level. The mandolin, at least in traditional terms, is maybe still outside the mainstream of trad instruments which may well be dominated by the fiddle and accordion and bagpipes.

I know you are certainly looking at classical music as well, as your list indicates, and maybe there is something for you over on the Classical, Italian, Renaissance and Medieval section of the forum here on the cafe. Sorry to be of so little help, but I feel for you in your quest!

That's my problem. The RCS audition advice pamphlet merely says "grade 8 or equivalent" pieces, but ABRSM has no repertoire suggestions for mandolin. I've been going by grading for violin, but that won't necessarily be accurate- the Chaconne from Bach's 2nd partita, for example, is a nuisance for the double stops but fairly straightforward to play as chords. I found one repertoire list from Victoria College, but I feel it's restrictive, and a LOT of the suggested pieces I'm having trouble finding notation for. My father works at a Conservatory in Switzerland and has suggested I restrict my audition to pieces that show my musicality rather than any specific technique, which I think the Vivaldi and Calace pieces are good for... But that's all I have to go on!

[Mark Gunter]

I think your father is wise inasmuch as musicality will trump technique; a person can be a show-off with technique at the expense of musicality. I know nothing and have nothing to offer as advice, but your father's advice struck a chord with me. I'm glad you mentioned it, and glad I read this thread. Best of luck with your endeavors!

[Beanzy]

Your repertoire choices seem good and at a high enough level for where you’re aiming.
As you say quite violin inspired rather than being from the mandolin world.
However after a certain level the piece presented is less important than the way it is presented and the reasons for doing so.
I wouldn’t spend any time working up any more pieces, rather delve deeply into the detail of those you choose from your list.
This goes back to what your father says, your musical choices and ability to communicate your understanding of the piece will be crucial for any performance. Dig in to see which pieces cover a good spread of techniques, maybe even do a wee chart with tick boxes to see clearly which pieces show your skills in as many areas as possible in the very limited time you will have to play for the tutors.
Then work and rework those pieces to get past mastering the technique to being able to reveal the music as you interpret it.
Have reasons (make notes as you practice) ready so you can explain why you go one way rather than another.
Make sure you examine a few viable options for each passage, eliminating those you find unconvincing (noting why)

The tutors will be looking for a certain level of skill, but crucially they will be looking for a passion to explore and understand the instrument and the music you play. They are less likely to be genre-bound than a violin academy, so you could venture outside the normal repertoire into choro, jazz etc . However in an entrance piece you probably will want to show you know the instrument can play as a ‘high-art’ instrument too. For this Calace is often a good choice, as his whole passion seems to have been to take the mandolin back into the musical circles it was previously played in the baroque era., but in a modern musical aesthetic of his times.

I also think getting a bit of insight into where your prospective tutors music takes them is a good idea.

http://mandolinscotland.org/mandolin/tutor.html
http://mandolinscotland.org/tuition/profiles.html

All the best with your progress.

[derbex]

You could look at the pieces the Victoria College of Music uses for Grade 8 mandolin : http://www.vcmexams.co.uk/pdfdocs/Mandolin.pdf

[Elijah Fynmore]

Your repertoire choices seem good and at a high enough level for where you’re aiming.
As you say quite violin inspired rather than being from the mandolin world.
However after a certain level the piece presented is less important than the way it is presented and the reasons for doing so.
I wouldn’t spend any time working up any more pieces, rather delve deeply into the detail of those you choose from your list.
This goes back to what your father says, your musical choices and ability to communicate your understanding of the piece will be crucial for any performance. Dig in to see which pieces cover a good spread of techniques, maybe even do a wee chart with tick boxes to see clearly which pieces show your skills in as many areas as possible in the very limited time you will have to play for the tutors.
Then work and rework those pieces to get past mastering the technique to being able to reveal the music as you interpret it.
Have reasons (make notes as you practice) ready so you can explain why you go one way rather than another.
Make sure you examine a few viable options for each passage, eliminating those you find unconvincing (noting why)

The tutors will be looking for a certain level of skill, but crucially they will be looking for a passion to explore and understand the instrument and the music you play. They are less likely to be genre-bound than a violin academy, so you could venture outside the normal repertoire into choro, jazz etc . However in an entrance piece you probably will want to show you know the instrument can play as a ‘high-art’ instrument too. For this Calace is often a good choice, as his whole passion seems to have been to take the mandolin back into the musical circles it was previously played in the baroque era., but in a modern musical aesthetic of his times.

I also think getting a bit of insight into where your prospective tutors music takes them is a good idea.

http://mandolinscotland.org/mandolin/tutor.html
http://mandolinscotland.org/tuition/profiles.html

All the best with your progress.

This is good stuff that I hadn't necessarily thought of, thanks. I've been trying different ways to play different sections but I haven't been keeping track of them. I should probably spend some time with a tutor before an audition, going in completely autodidact might backfire. Why do they all live in feckin East Kilbride? I'm in the Northeast!

[Elijah Fynmore]

You could look at the pieces the Victoria College of Music uses for Grade 8 mandolin : http://www.vcmexams.co.uk/pdfdocs/Mandolin.pdf

This is helpful, thanks, I was wondering why no other music school seemed to have a repertoire. Unfortunately I'm not the biggest fan of their selections (am I the only person who finds La Fustemberg very tedious?), and a lot of the notation is hard to find unless you buy it, which I can't really afford just now. I have however been playing around with the Piccola Gavotta and that might potentially be an interesting project to work on.

[jesserules]

Might be good to try posting the same question on the "Classical, Italian, Medieval, Renaissance" forum here on Mandolin Café. (Or ask for this thread to be moved there, whatever the correct protocol is.)

[Marc Berman]

I suggest contacting Dept. Head Allan Neave, a.neave@rcs.ac.uk, and see if he can offer some guidance.