# Grade 8 piano (ABRSM)



## TwoFourPianist

Just wondering if anyone is sitting the 2013/2014 grade 8 piano exam (ABRSM). I want to know what you think of the pieces and which ones you are going to / have played.

For me it is:
Sonata in B by Antonio Soler
Sonata in F by Beethoven
Hallelujah Time by Oscar Peterson

Thanks


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## worov

Hi ! 

I haven't any of the pieces. Here is what I think of them.

Antonio Soler is excellent. Very underplayed. Very similar to Scarlatti (one of my favorite baroque composers).

I guess the Beethoven sonata is opus 10 no 2. I'm afraid the opus 54 might be too hard for Grade 8.

Any Beethoven sonata is good. However they are very hard to play well. 

Nice to see Oscar Petersen on the list. I'm a great fan of jazz, so I'm very pleased to see that the ABRSM allows this. 

Your programm is very contrasted. Baroque, Classical and jazz.


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## TwoFourPianist

Thanks for your feedback 

I admit I had not heard of Soler previously to this exam, but his pieces are both technically challenging and melodic. His Sonata in B has a nice child-like feel to it. Obviously there is a lack of dynamics in the score (a.k.a none at all), so I'm finding it quite fun to interpret. It's nice to give a Baroque piece some expessive, Romantic-style dynamics.

The Beethoven Sonata is opus 10 no 2, and it is increasingly becoming one of my favourite pieces to play. There is a perfect contrast between melody and texture. The development section is difficlut but incredibly rewarding to perform 

My only criticism for Hallelujah Time is that I want to play it at break-neck speed! It is very different to what ABRSM have allowed in the past, I agree. But I'm not complaining


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## maestro57

Maybe the first movement of Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 5 in C minor, Op. 10 No. 1... if it's still in the grade 8 ABRSM syllabus? Might be easier than Op. 10 No. 2? <Shrug>


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## hreichgott

worov said:


> Nice to see Oscar Petersen on the list. I'm a great fan of jazz, so I'm very pleased to see that the ABRSM allows this.


Petersen is an alum of the Toronto Royal Conservatory right? That may be how it happened...


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