I wanted to know what everyone's experiences have been about how much you needed to play of your concerto movement. I don't want to waste time practicing the last two pages of my concerto when they probably are never going to hear it, and my excerpts need so much work(which they will hear). Has anyone ever had to play the whole movement? What about in the semis or finals? Thanks for your help.

I think it depends on the orchestra. I played a lot of preliminaries where I only played the exposition of my concerto. One time, however, I played a preliminary and they heard just about the entire movement of my concerto AND an entire movement of Bach.....I played for literally 20 minutes! It was pretty surprising...! So, I guess you just never know. In any case, if you make it to the finals, many orchestras will hear just about everything.

Generally, you'll only get to the exposition, but no, I've never played a whole movement. Sometimes they specify that they may want another movement, such as the 2nd movement of the Vivaldi piccolo Concerto instead of the 1st, or they may ask for both & you should be prepared to work on both movements. They sometimes ask for 1 movement in 1 round & another movement in another round. Occasionally, you may have to play with a pianist in prelims, but I've only done this once in prelims & once in finals of different orchestras. Most semis don't even ask for another part of the concerto, although I wish they would. I can't remember the last time I played the 3rd mvt of the Mozart Flute Concerto in G (in general, never in an audition), but the 1st 2 pages of my 1st movement part need to retire because I've used them so much.

wow...guess I better brush off those last two pages!

It's always a good idea, loye77! You'll feel better about your preparation that way, and probably be more likely to play your best.

I agree with RWhite. There's nothing more distracting during an audition than the fear that they won't stop you in time! Pragmatically, you might not be able to prepare all parts equally, and you can probably figure out what's most likely likely to be asked, but for your own sanity if nothing else, be ready to play through to the end.

I have heard of orchestras asking for whole concertos too. That seems ridiculous to me, but I wonder if it is to scare off people that my not be too serious.

Yes, whole concertos are asked for occasionally (for strings anyway). I think the reasoning is similar to having a huge list of excerpts: it weeds out the less-than-committed, and it also adds to the challenge of the audition. They know it's tough to be ready for that much stuff, and they're looking for someone who can handle anything. (I'm currently prepping a list that includes a whole concerto and a bunch of excerpts. No fun, but I don't make the rules.)

Philadelphia has required it for their viola auditions, and they do take a "drop the needle" approach in the finals - saying play this, then play that. I think they're just looking for someone who's really got the goods to lay down a whole concerto, and they make sure their finalists know it.

Seems to me that if one is qualified to win a job with an orchestra, being able to play a whole concerto or a whole movement at the audition shouldn't be a big deal.

Just a thought, but wouldn't it be an excellent thing to add in stead of whole concertos: pieces that people fake. Like William Tell, the violins never play 'that fast part' right. And how about some Candide as site reading, you know, to see if people can count the stuff that orchestras play. Far too often pops type concerts embarrass repeated. Groups that can lick Don Juan and Til, suck big time at a Rossini piece or Sleigh Ride. Not all, but I am talking of mid level orchestras. You know who you are! I have sat next to you!

Anyway, wanna see who the bad asses really are? Some concerto, then pops sightreading!!!!!

Ivy, you read my mind. Just last week, I was talking with a colleague about the concerto thing, and he suggested the same thing. He pointed out that most of us aren't playing our concertos with the orchestra, so who cares if you can play a knockout Bartok Viola Concerto? What matters is if you can swing eighth notes!

From my recent audition experiences, my thought is that committees are looking for a real superstar/genius who can handle anything(even with the viola--no offend, I'm a viola player) or they already know who they want. Well...

To answer the original question (I must confess, I didn't read all of the follow ups) I say prepare the whole concerto. I was in the finals for one of the big 5 where just the 1st movement was asked...but being the finals...the music director wanted to hear the slow movement. I didn't think that was out of line - if you are at the level to be in the finals you should know the entire concerto. I think I would have been surprised had it been for a much smaller orchestra (pay under $40k or so).

So for smaller orchestras I have my students prepare the entire movement and always find out if they want a cadenza (for the big orchestras always have one prepared). While you have the time I feel it best to write your own cadenza, realizing that you will always want to improve upon it - or even rewrite it. If a committee specifies that they want to hear a cadenza, be prepared with one of your own - this is really your chance to shine as an individual.

A funny story (that may help you). I took an audition overseas and they wanted to hear the exposition and then the cadenza. I played mine, which at the time was very much an attempt to be in the style that I thought Mozart would want (not too long and other things too). Well my cadenza was about 60 seconds long....needless to say, it was not enough for the committee to really judge me (as they informed me). So I now have 2 cadenzas - one that is a bit longer with many flashy runs within the melodic ideas - and another that is shorter, more similiar to what Mozart wrote in his piano concertos (he wrote many of the cadenzas himself - a good study guide).

I hope this helps.
W

quote:

Originally posted by Joel Gibbs:
What matters is if you can swing eighth notes!

Arrangers are supposed to write those out in triplets, if visually acceptable.

Frank Sinatra's arranger eventually came to find the need to do that as standard procedure.

It's neat to come across a string player who can swing and solo; they do exist!

Always prepare everything - and a bit more. Once I was told this: in the Mozart concerto, please start in the first mvt at bar 120(or whatever) and play until the end.

Of course, audition repertoire should include a variety of the orchestra repertoire. If the orchestra does symphony, baroque, pop, contemporary and opera, the audition should include all of this. It's really strange that today's versatile orchestras don't look for more versatile musicians.

I agree with you about the variety of music types. A few years ago Lyric Opera in Chicago had a percussion opening and it included some stuff on set. This was shocking to some, but hey - they play new operas there and someday one could call for set...in fact I think the next season this happened. Imagine that!