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Classical Piano Bachelor Training Course Description

Classical Piano as Main Subject

Aim of the three-year basic education is to master a significant number of important compositions which belong to the heart of the piano repertoire and to learn to perform them at an artistically high level. Besides training soloists, it is crucially important to train teachers, chamber musicians, accompanists, repetiteurs and pianists cooperating in orchestral works. Professors can advise students about the future orientation within this spectrum that will suit their personality best. To gain thorough understanding of formal, harmonic, rhythmic and melodic structures during the studies is vitally important. Aspects to be developed are, among others, the quality of sound-producing, using of pedal and adjusting to the acoustic qualities of a piano in a given concert hall. Furthermore the student should be able to define the place of compositions – based on listening experience and specialized literature – within the ouvre of the composer, within the boundaries of the style and the entire history of music.

Suggested repertoire (further compositions can be added):

Compositions of D. Scarlatti, J. S. Bach, (additionally Byrd, Couperin, Rameau, Händel, Ph. E. Bach), Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, Brahms (additionally Mendelssohn, Grieg), Debussy, Ravel, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Bartók (additionally Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Dohnányi, Kodály, Kurtág), etc.

Exam:

Apart from the 6th semester, at the end of each semester there is a colloquium graded on a five point scale (from 1,0 to 5,0 including one decimal). The repertoire played on the colloquiums of one academic year has to contain the following:

  • J. S. Bach: 2 Preludes and Fugues from Das Wohltemperierte Klavier (one of the compositions can be substituted – with the permission of the teacher – by another baroque piece);
  • 1 classical sonata (can be substituted in the above mentioned way by a concert for piano and orchestra, variations, etc.);
  • 2 etudes;
  • 1 romantic composition;
  • 1 20th century or contemporary composition.

*the way the required compositions are distributed between the two colloquiums (at the end of each semester of an academic year) is chosen by the student*

The diploma concert is due at the end of the 6th semester.

 

Further requirements

Repertoire Knowledge – according to the general requirements.

Performing Practice – 1 recital per semester in a duration of at least 30 minutes.

 

Suggested elective subjects related to the main subject

20th century piano music („classics": Schönberg, Berg, Webern; important foreign composers: Honegger, Milhaud, Poulenc, Satie, Messiaen; difficult contemporary compositions: Boulez, Xenakis, Stockhausen, Berio, Cage; Hungarian composers: Lajtha, Veress Takács, Farkas, Sugár, Maros and the younger generation: Durkó, Kurtág, Bozay, Soproni, Lendvay, Kocsár, Jeney, Orbán)

Harpsichord (baroque pieces for keyboard instruments build the basis of the piano repertoire; getting to know the plucking mechanism of a harpsichord, it's acoustical, technical and stylistic characteristics is therefore of crucial importance in interpreting compositions on the piano)

Continuo (preparation for the occasional solving of continuo tasks, studying figured bass, development of harmonic hearing and stylistic sensitivity)

Organ (the history of the instrument, it's acoustical and stylistic possibilities, studying the mechanics of the instrument, basic knowledge of the playing-technique, of the registers and key-touch)

Improvisation (work is done mostly in groups; deepening the connection with the instrument in order to develop musical intelligence, creative implementation of musical experiences gained through improvisation)