Test material for the Department of Composition, Conducting and Music Theory

Speciality: Composition:

• Aural training - oral
  
  • perception of intervals, triads and four not chords;
    musical memory and imagination;
    analysis of polyphonic melodic/harmonic passage;
    error correction in three- and four-voice configurations;
    singing at sight
  • practical rendering of functional notations and rendering of thorough bass;
    melody harmonisation with possible application of any piano accompaniment;
    playing cadenzas;
    chord solution (including inflected and characteristic chords);
    progression rendering;
    harmonisation of the major scale (up to 4 accidentals);
    playing diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic modulations;
    harmonic analysis of musical examples.
  
  
• Piano
  performance of two pieces (one polyphonic piece and one piece of the candidates choice); score reading a vista

• Aural training - oral
  
  • test of pitch and harmonic ear, sense of rhythm, musical memory and imagination, intrinsic hearing;
    singing at sight proficiency, correct intonation, rhythmic precision, musicality, naming chord positions and inversions, the ability to correct errors in three- and four-voice configurations immediately and to react promptly to all sound phenomena
  • test of proficiency in aural analysis of musical works and identification of the differential musical language features of various genres, ages and composers;
    the ability to recognise the sounds of different instruments in their entire scale in solo, chamber and orchestra works, including harmonic hearing proficiency and the ability to correct bad intonation in singers or bad instrument tuning;
    knowledge of musical and performance styles.
  
  
• Piano
  one study, one polyphonic piece, one classical and romantic or modern piece, score reading a vista.

• Aural training
  • written
    polyphonic problem (notation, error correction);
    harmonic problem (notation of chord passages by means of functional symbols or letter chord notation)
  • oral
    musical memory and imagination test, score voice reading
  
  
• Harmony
  • written
    harmonisation of a figurated soprano and thorough bass
  • oral
    practical examination with the piano - realisation of functional notations, harmonisation of a melody in soprano or bass, playing a cadence, progression, diatonic, chromatic and enharmonic modulation, resolving characteristic chords, harmonisation of major and minor scales (melodic), harmonic analysis.
  
  
• Forms and analysis of a work of music
  the ability to analyse a short baroque, classical, romantic or 20^th century work of music on the basis of the score, in piano texture. The general principles of construction of musical forms, such as: polyphonic forms, sonata allegro, rondo, variations, cyclic forms, with reference to the musical literature.

Compiled by: The Fryderyk Chopin University of Music