Trinity Grade 6
Group A
Prelude in D minor by J. S. Bach
This Prelude and the others that are published with it would have been written as teaching material. We don't know when it was written, though probably around 1720 and the existing manuscripts are not in Bach's hand. The 6 Preludes (BWV 933-938) that were grouped together after Bach's death form a neat group: one major and one minor in the keys of C, D & E, so perhaps forerunners to the Well-Tempered Clavier. This particular prelude is clearly in two parts.
Group A
Sonatina in E♭by G. A. Benda
This single movement Sonatina is one of 34 composed by the Czech 18th-century musician Georg Anton Benda.
Group A
Coranto by W. Byrd
Coranto is no. 218 from the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book.
The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book is a collection of nearly 300 hundred, mainly short keyboard pieces composed by English composers during the latter half of the 16th, and early 17th centuries (during the reigns of Elizabeth 1 & James 1). We can assume that the collection was originally assembled by a performer in the days before printed keyboard music was available ...and long before imslp.org!
The word virginal is used here to denote any keyboard instrument of the time so perhaps a spinet, harpsichord, clavichord or organ.
The collection is named after Viscount Fitzwilliam, who bequeathed it, along with works of art, the contents of his library (including manuscripts by Handel and Purcell) and funds to store it all, to the University of Cambridge in 1816.
Group A
Giga in A minor by R. Jones
Group B
Mazurka by N. Béra-Tagrine
Group B
Weaving a Spell by R. Ramskill
Group B
Progression I by M. Schmitz
Jen has asked about the repeats signs. Yes, they are complicated! Ped. means apply the pedal whilst the asterisk ❊ means lift it off, this I suspect we all know. So why all the brackets? These take into consideration the various repeats. A bracketed asterisk (❊) meaning ‘lift the pedal off when you get to this point the second time around' (or sometimes even the third time around). So, on the very first chord, we see the off pedal sign (❊) and it’s in brackets because it only applies when we return to it at the repeat. But, before we go any further - we shouldn’t play repeats in exams, unless they are just a few bars. But we do play da capo and dal segno. So:
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bar 8 - a dab of pedal to hold the unison E whilst we go grab the first chord fo bar 9, when we release it.
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no repeats and straight to the second time bar (23b & 24b) so pedal down there, then off as we return to bar 9.
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pedal as indicated from bar 25.
Group B
In Dreams by H. Shore & F. Walsh arr. N. Podgornov
Group A alternative
Scherzo in B♭ major by F. Schubert
Group B alternative
Gymnopédie no.3 by E. Satie
All 6 Exercises
1a. Nouvelle Gymnopédie
1b. Romantic Gesture
2a. Spinal Chords
2b. Three Against Two Ain't Fair!
3a. Catch Me If You Can
3b. The Fugitive
Scales & Arpeggios
All 9 Pieces
BACH, J. S. - Prelude in D minor
BENDA, G. - Sonatina in E♭
BYRD, W. - Coranto
JONES, R. - Giga in A minor
BÉRA-TAGRINE, N. - Mazurka
KARGANOV, G. - Arabesque
RAMSKILL, R. - Weaving a Spell
SCHMITZ, M. - Progression I
WALSH/SHORE - In Dreams