Chamber Music and String Quartet examination rules and requirements

1.) The academic year consists of a semester where the student receives seminar grade and one where they receive examination grade. Graduate students receive a seminar grade in the last semester.

2.) The requirements below apply to chamber music groups whose instructor is academic staff of the Chamber Music Department, as well as groups with at least one member who is entitled to study with academic staff of the Chamber Music Department, but wishes to take the subject with an instructor of another department in both (SG) and (E) semesters.

Exceptions are groups that did not register the course with a teacher of the Chamber Music Department, groups with percussions, harp, cimbalom, accordion, guitar, harpsichord, organ or double bass, as well as brass and woodwind ensembles. These groups are exempt from the examination rules below, and their performance is evaluated by their instructors.

3.) The examination material of all registered Chamber Music/String Quartet groups consists of a programme of over 20 minutes in length , per semester. Further requirements of the examination material:

• In case of pieces under 20 minutes, multiple entire pieces are to be included to compile a programme of over 20 minutes.
• In case of a 20-40 minutes long piece, the entire piece is to be performed (all movements).
• In case of a piece of over 40 minutes, it is possible to select only certain movements, but the length of the programme is to be over 20 minutes altogether.
• Students in the Violin Department are obliged to learn and perform a classical, a romantic and a 20th-century violin-piano sonata during the six semesters of the Bachelor training. These sonatas can be performed in any semester and can be finished in one semester, however, they must be performed in public, which must be attested by the exam register, the general course registers or concert pamphlets. In the 2016/2017 academic year this examination requirement applies to first-year BA students in the Violin Department only.

4.) The examination materials are registered and documented. One chamber music group has to submit a different examination programme each semester, and a piece already performed at an examination must not be repeated in later chamber music examinations.

5.) In case of special groupings, where the possible repertoire is small, the above requirement might not be met.  In these cases, the exam material needs to be approved by the head of the department 2 weeks prior to the examination.

6.) Every chamber music group (including string quartets) is required to perform the examination material (detailed in Point 3) in public.

7.) Seminar grade (SG) semesters require students to perform the examination material detailed in Point 3 at one of the Academy’s venues in public to get their seminar grade. If this is not possible, the course’s instructor chooses an excerpt of the completed material which the student performs in class, in the last week of the term time.

8.) At the student's request, the evaluation of the examination (E) semester may also be based on the performance at a concert that took place during the term time at one of the Academy’s venues. The prerequisite for this is that at least three instructors of the Chamber Music Department are present and that the fulfillment of the requirement is officially documented. One member of the Examination Committee may be a main subject professor, but at least two members are to be instructors of the Chamber Music Department.

The assessment of the examination is the mathematical average of the marks given by the members of the committee, rounded to the closest integer.

The committee evaluates the overall performance, and every member of the groups receives the same mark. The performances are evaluated on a 5-point scale, as follows: excellent, good, average, satisfactory, fail. After the performance, the committee members are available for oral evaluation and consultation.

9.) Performance at a diploma concert is accepted as fulfilment of the requirement if the conditions in Point 2 are met, and at least two instructors of the Chamber Music Department are also present besides the Diploma Concert Committee consisting of the instructors of the main subject.

10.) The examination may be postponed; requests for postponement are to be submitted in writing at the Study Department. The head of the department decides about the requests. Postponed examinations may only be taken during the make-up examination period at the end of the semester. In certain cases the requests are to be submitted to the Academic Committee.

11.) The chamber music and string quartet examinations are held in the examination period of all semesters when these subjects are taken. At the examination, the groups are requested by the examination committee to perform 10 minutes of the 20-40 minutes programme compiled in accordance with Point 2. The 3-day long examination at the end of the semester is chaired by the Examination Committee consisting of instructors of the Chamber Music Department.

 12.) As of 1 September 2016 the requirements above apply.

Budapest, 1 September 2016

Balázs Fülei

Head of
Chamber Music Department