Test material for the Department of Instrumental and Pedagogical Studies in Białystok

BA Stud­ies

Major: INSTRUMENTAL STUDIES (intra­mural studies)

Spe­cialty: Instru­men­tal Pedagogy

- Piano

• J. S. Bach — pre­lude and fugue from Das Wohltem­perierte Klavier (Vol­ume 1 or 2)
• one clas­si­cal sonata
• two etudes dif­fer­ing with respect to tech­ni­cal problems
• one piece from the Roman­tic period
• free piece (dura­tion: at least 5 minutes)

- Organ

• a pre-Bach piece
• J. S. Bach — pre­lude and fugue
• J. S. Bach — sonata
• J. S. Bach — chorale with a fig­ured can­tus firmus
• an optional piece

- Harp­si­chord

• J. S. Bach — a poly­phonic piece
• D. Scar­latti — two sonatas dif­fer­ing in metre
• a clas­si­cal sonata
• a vir­tu­oso piece
• an optional piece

The can­di­date shall play the pro­gram on the piano (can­di­dates with a sec­ondary music school diploma in the harp­si­chord may play their exam­i­na­tion pro­gram on the harpsichord).

- Vio­lin

• two con­trast­ing sonata or par­tita parts for solo vio­lin by J. S. Bach or G. Ph. Telemann’s Fan­tasy
• one capric­cio
• con­certo for vio­lin and piano – move­ment I with a cadenza or move­ment II and III

- Viola

• two capric­cios
• solo piece: suite — J. S. Bach, G. Ph. Tele­mann, M. Reger (to choose from)
• a clas­si­cal or mod­ern con­certo with piano accompaniment

- Cello

• two-tones etude (from D. Pop­per 40 etudes op. 73) or two-tones capric­cio (from A. Piatti 12 capri­cios op. 25)
• two move­ments of one of J. S. Bach’s suites for cello solo
• two con­trast­ing move­ments of one cho­sen pre-classical sonata

- Dou­ble bass

• an etude solo
• an old clas­sic sonata, move­ments I and II or III and IV
• con­certo (at least two move­ments) or concertino
• free piece (miniature)

- Wood­wind and Brass instruments

• clar­inet — sonata form; sax­o­phone: baroque piece or sonata form; other instru­ments: baroque piece
• con­certo
• free piece

Score read­ing a vista exam­i­na­tion require­ments: major and minor scales, inter­vals (thirds), arpeg­gios and sev­enth dominants.

- Gui­tar

• two diverse vir­tu­oso etudes
• a baroque suite (at least three movements)
• a cyclic clas­si­cal form
• an optional program

- Accor­dion

• a pre­clas­si­cal or clas­si­cal period piece
• pre­lude and fugue (or an inde­pen­dent fugue)
• a cyclic piece (orig­i­nal music)
• at least two diverse optional pieces

The dif­fi­culty of the pro­grams for par­tic­u­lar instru­ments is defined by the final demands laid out in the syl­labuses for sec­ondary music schools

- Per­cus­sion (the pur­pose of the exam­i­na­tion is to test the candidate’s mas­tery of all per­cus­sion instruments)

1. Ren­der­ing of a pro­gram prepared:

• snare drum
  • oblig­a­tory piece: Bent Lylloff Arhus Etude no. 9 (Etude for Snare Drum)
  • a piece based on rudi­men­tary tech­nique — J. S. Pratt, W. J. Schin­s­tine, or some other composer
  • tremolo in var­i­ous gra­da­tions of dynam­ics includ­ing crescendo and decrescendo

• ket­tle drums
  • solo piece or piece with piano accompaniment
  • tremolo in var­i­ous gra­da­tions of dynam­ics includ­ing crescendo and decrescendo

• xylo­phone
  • solo piece or piece with piano accompaniment
  • major and minor scales (in thirds, sixths and octaves), arpeg­gios, chro­matic scale

• vibra­phone
  • solo piece or piece with piano accompaniment

• marim­ba­phone (optional)
  • solo piece or piece with piano accompaniment

• per­cus­sion set
  • solo piece or part of a cyclic piece for set of var­i­ous types of per­cus­sion instruments

2. prepa­ra­tion, in fixed time, of a solo piece for vibra­phone based on chord (four stick) technique

3. read­ing a vista: xylo­phone, snare drum. Tun­ing ket­tle drums

 

- Aural train­ing – oral examination

• test­ing the candidate’s skills in singing at sight, the sight into­na­tion, rhyth­mi­cal pre­ci­sion and musicality

Major: MUSIC ARTISTIC EDUCATION

Spe­cialty: Con­duct­ing Music Ensem­bles (intra­mural studies)

- Aural train­ing – oral examination

• inter­vals, tri­ads and tetrads perception
• musi­cal mem­ory and imag­i­na­tion test
• analy­sis of multi-voice and melodic-harmonic passages
• singing at sight
• ren­der­ing of rhyth­mic passages

- Test of con­duct­ing and vocal predisposition

• man­ual exer­cise in metres 4, 3, 2;
• exer­cise (Con­cone, Vac­cai) or song (light song) with accom­pa­ni­ment (by heart). The can­di­date must bring two copies of the score for the examination.

- Selected instru­ment. Pre­pared pro­gram presentation:

• piano
  • poly­phonic piece (baroque)
  • free piece

• other instru­ment
  • etude (capric­cio) — solo piece
  • any piece with accompaniment

 

Spe­cialty: Music at School

- Aural train­ing – oral examination

• inter­vals, tri­ads and tetrads perception
• musi­cal mem­ory and imag­i­na­tion test
• analy­sis of multi-voice and melodic-harmonic passages
• singing at sight
• real­i­sa­tion of rhyth­mic passages

- Test of con­duct­ing and vocal predisposition

• man­ual exer­cise in metre 4, 3, 2;
• exer­cise (Con­cone, Vac­cai) or song (light song) with accom­pa­ni­ment (by heart). The can­di­date must bring two copies of the score for the examination.

- Selected instru­ment. Pre­pared pro­gram presentation:

• piano
  • poly­phonic piece (baroque)
  • free piece

• other instru­ment
  • study (capric­cio) — solo piece
  • any piece with accompaniment

 

Spe­cialty: Church Music. Organ or piano (candidate’s choice)

- Organ — Pre­pared pro­gram presentation

• pre-Bach period piece
• J. S. Bach — pre­lude and fugue
• J. S. Bach — sonata
• J. S. Bach — chorale with fig­u­rated can­tus firmus
• free piece

- Piano — Pre­pared pro­gram presentation

• two etud­ies with dif­fer­ent problems
• J. S. Bach — pre­lude and fugue from Das Wohltem­perierte Klavier
• D. Scar­latti — one sonata
• sonata alle­gro
• free piece

- Aural training

• inter­vals, tri­ads and tetrads perception
• musi­cal mem­ory and imag­i­na­tion test
• analy­sis of multi-voice and melodic-harmonic passages
• singing at sight
• real­i­sa­tion of rhyth­mic passages

- Test of con­duct­ing and vocal predisposition

• man­ual exer­cise in metre 4, 3, 2;
• exer­cise (Con­cone, Vac­cai) or song (light song) with accom­pa­ni­ment (by heart). The can­di­date must bring two copies of the score for the examination.

 

Major: VOCAL STUDIES

Spe­cialty: Solo Singing

- Singing

• pre­sen­ta­tion of two of three pre­pared vocal pieces with piano accom­pa­ni­ment (songs or arias). One piece must be in Polish.

- Act­ing and move­ment pre­dis­po­si­tion test

• recita­tion of a frag­ment of a lit­er­ary text (prose or verse, learned by heart), ren­der­ing of set act­ing stud­ies, dic­tion and breath­ing prob­lems, dance/movement stud­ies, per­for­mance of one piece from the pro­gram sub­mit­ted to the singing exam­i­na­tion (the exam­i­na­tion com­mit­tee chooses the piece and assesses the emotional/movement aspects of the inter­pre­ta­tion). Required cloth­ing that allows to per­form dance, exer­cises, move­ment and gym­nas­tic tasks.

- Aural train­ing — oral

• audi­tory pre­dis­po­si­tion and skills test includ­ing score read­ing, real­i­sa­tion of rhyth­mic exer­cises, con­so­nance iden­ti­fi­ca­tion includ­ing tierce inver­sions and sev­enth dom­i­nants, iden­ti­fi­ca­tion of major, minor, aug­mented and dimin­ished chords; musi­cal mem­ory pre­dis­po­si­tion test.

 

MA Stud­ies

Major: INSTRUMENTAL STUDIES

Spe­cialty: Instru­men­tal Ped­a­gogy (piano, organ, harp­si­chord, string instru­ments, wind instru­ments, gui­tar, accor­dion, percussion)

• artis­tic per­for­mance with a selected pro­gramme (up to 30 minutes)

Major: MUSIC ARTISTIC EDUCATION

Spe­cialty: Con­duct­ing Music Ensembles

1. Con­duct­ing
Con­duct­ing a choir pro­gramme con­sist­ing of three pieces (up to 15 minutes):

• A poly­phonic piece or a piece with poly­phonic elements
• A piece by a con­tem­po­rary composer
• An instru­men­tal or vocal and instru­men­tal piece

Test of gen­eral music knowl­edge and the knowl­edge about the com­poser, per­for­mance style, form and music genre of the pre­sented pieces.

2. Voice Pro­duc­tion
Per­form­ing two pieces:

• An old Ital­ian aria, opera or ora­to­rio and can­tata aria
• Artis­tic song

3. Piano
Per­form­ing three pieces:

• A poly­phonic piece
• To choose: a clas­si­cal or vari­a­tion form or a rondo
• An etude or a free piece

4. Aural train­ing (oral)

• inter­vals, tri­ads and tetrads perception
• musi­cal mem­ory and imag­i­na­tion test
• analy­sis of multi-voice and melodic-harmonic passages
• singing at sight
• ren­der­ing of rhyth­mic passages

 

Spe­cialty: Church Music

1. Organ

Per­form­ing two pieces:

• A chorale pre­lude by J.S. Bach or other Baroque composer
• A large poly­phonic form by J.S. Bach
• A Roman­tic piece

2. Con­duct­ing
Con­duct­ing a choir pro­gramme a cap­pella: a sacred piece with var­ied style; the pro­gramme should con­sist of two pieces (up to 10 minutes):

• A poly­phonic piece or a piece with poly­phonic elements
• A free piece

Test of gen­eral music knowl­edge and the knowl­edge about the com­poser, per­for­mance style, form and music genre of the pre­sented pieces.

3. Voice pro­duc­tion
Per­ma­nent and change­able parts of a Mass, psalms or church songs with organ accompaniment.

 

Spe­cialty: Artis­tic Edu­ca­tion at School

1. Con­duct­ing
Con­duct­ing a choir pro­gramme a cap­pella: a piece for a choir with homo­ge­neous voices or a mixed choir with var­ied style; the pro­gramme should con­sist of two pieces (up to 10 minutes):

• a piece with poly­phonic elements,
• a free piece

Test of gen­eral music knowl­edge and the knowl­edge about the com­poser, per­for­mance style, form and music genre of the pre­sented pieces.

2. Voice Pro­duc­tion
Per­form­ing two pieces:

• an old Ital­ian aria or a song for chil­dren (e.g. col­lec­tions of songs for chil­dren W. Lutosławski, M. Kaczurbina, Z. Ciechan)
• artis­tic song

3. Piano
Per­form­ing thee pieces:

• A poly­phonic piece
• To choose: a clas­si­cal or vari­a­tion form or a rondo
• An etude or a free piece

4. Aural tran­ing (oral)

• inter­vals, tri­ads and tetrads perception
• musi­cal mem­ory and imag­i­na­tion test
• analy­sis of multi-voice and melodic-harmonic passages
• singing at sight
• ren­der­ing of rhyth­mic passages

 

Major: VOCAL STUDIES

Spe­cialty: Solo Singing

- Singing – the can­di­date is required to present an about 30-minute pro­gramme which should include:

• 2 arias or opera frag­ments, one of them must be a Baroque or a clas­si­cal aria with a recitative
• one oratorio/cantata aria
• songs from his­tor­i­cal peri­ods that are var­ied stylistically

The pro­gramme may include an operetta or musi­cal aria or other pieces suit­able for the candidate’s voice type. All the pieces should be per­formed in the orig­i­nal lan­guage. The can­di­date chooses one piece from the pre­sented pro­gramme, the rest is cho­sen by the exam­i­na­tion committee.

- Act­ing and danc­ing skills test – the can­di­date is required to present:

• a frag­ment of an opera recita­tive in stage inter­pre­ta­tion (about 3 minutes)
• a frag­ment of a mono­logue from a free drama play, or a free frag­ment of poetry or prose (about 5 minutes)
• per­form­ing a given dancing/movement etude cov­er­ing national or his­tor­i­cal dance styles; it is per­mit­ted that the can­di­date presents a pre­pared dance etude (national or his­tor­i­cal dance styles) with her or his own back­ing music on a CD.

The can­di­date is required to present: Per­for­mance of ele­ments of dance cov­er­ing national and his­tor­i­cal styles.
National styles:

• Basic steps for polon­aise, indi­vid­u­ally and in pairs with a bow
• Steps for kujaviak in pairs (chosen)
• Steps for cra­coviak, in pairs, with dif­fer­ent kinds of hold­ing hands
• Basic steps for tchardash, indi­vid­u­ally and in pairs with dif­fer­ent hand movements
• Hand posi­tions and move­ments in the fla­menco style
• Sim­ple ele­ments of Zap­ateado (accents on one, two, three, four), types of clap

His­tor­i­cal styles:

• Steps for pavane (Eng­lish and French), indi­vid­u­ally and in pairs, together with a bow and hand movements
• Steps for pas de bourre together with hand man­age­ment char­ac­ter­is­tic for the Baroque style
• Steps for min­uet (to choose) with a bow
• Steps for waltz, indi­vid­u­ally and in pairs
• Steps for polka, indi­vid­u­ally and in pairs

- Aural train­ing – a’vista reading.

A three-part exam con­nected with com­plet­ing three tasks:

• a’vista read­ing of a given frag­ment of music
• a’vista read­ing with piano accom­pa­ni­ment of one of the given voices from the score (the piano-examiner plays a dif­fer­ent voice)
• read­ing a rhyth­mi­cal passage

Exam­i­na­tion mate­ri­als from the solfeg­gio are pre­pared by the exam­i­na­tion committee.

- Inter­view