I don't know about inadvertent, Chris, as I am quite aware of the
tempo and further complications you cite - which I didn't feel like
elaborating as it seemed already a little OT (all my fault for
pursuing the matter ...) An even better example might be Carcassi Op
60 no 7 which was Grade 4 since the year dot and yet was probably
literally never played at Allegro by Grade 4 candidates, and was
removed for that reason. Carcassi Op 60 no 3 is considered a
reasonably bench-mark item for grade 5.
Basically the whole thing is an approximation, and compromise and
perhaps a typically British fudge, which kind of hangs together so
long as everything is kept in proportion. For example, something
like the Bourree as a grade 6 piece would really not, for grade 6,
be expected to be played with the graduate understandings you
mention, very rightly, as implications of the piece. Grade 8 btw is
the point at which here at least, a candidate for a college course in
guitar would be expected to have at a very high pass, preferably some
time before application at 18. So grade 6 is probably two years
prior to that.
Personally I have only a very tangential perspective on the
performance practice concerns taken by those setting syllabi (a piece
of mine is on grade 1 ... ) but from the point of view of modern
guitar, most people well into their undergraduate studies are, I
feel, far too slow to exercise stylistic differences between the
different epochs we make a point of celebrating (from early vihuela
to funny stuff from last year on the self same box). I do feel that
those in charge of syllabi recognise that more differentiation would
be a good thing, but there is a lot of inertia built into the
system. In my teaching diploma I played some Weiss with what I
thought of as a 'modern' approach to baroque, only to be roundly
criticised for it (I still passed...), and they may or may not have
been right but the thing is its safer not to do anything too odd, in
which instance a grade exam or diploma isn't that different to a
competition, where there is some pressure to conform for fear of
alienating certain members of the jury ... and I'd hazard a guess
that this applies well beyond the tiny world of guitar.
Stephen
On 4 Aug 2013, at 17:28, Christopher Wilke wrote:
Stephen,
Thank you for responding to my imbedded comment. In citing the
bourree from BWV 996, I believe you may have inadvertently
chosen the
perfect example to illustrate the ambiguity surrounding arbitrary
performance standards.
Consider the proper tempo for the piece. Even the pros do not
play
it at true bourree tempo or feel. If at the proper speed, the
difficulty drastically increases placing it on a difficulty level
comparable to the other movements of the suite. I wonder then
how the
appropriate grade difficulty level is assessed. Do exam graders
evaluate students on their demonstrated applied knowledge of the
tempi
and metric pulse patterns of baroque dance forms? Are they graded
according to the tempo tradition dictated by modern performers
which
was arrived at arbitrarily? (This particular piece should have a
fairly
quick 2/2 feel rather than the plodding 4/4 pulse which is has
become
the norm solely through repetition; another example of, "My teacher
plays it that way. John Williams and Julian Bream recorded it
that way.
I've heard it like that so often that anything else doesn't
sound right
to me.") Are the exam graders even expected to be familiar or
concerned
with these types of performance practice issues?
Chris
Dr. Christopher Wilke D.M.A.
Lutenist, Guitarist and Composer
www.christopherwilke.com
----- Original Message -----
From: Stephen Kenyon <[email protected]>
To: Christopher Wilke <[email protected]>
Cc: Dan Winheld <[email protected]>; Mark Seifert
<[email protected]>;
gary <[email protected]>; lutelist <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, August 4, 2013 10:34 AM
Subject: [LUTE] Re: general public Lute awareness
Assignment to grades is certainly arbitrary and all the more so
when
the reviewer is not actually responsible for setting syllabus
standards, so they should be saying "is roughly a grade 6 piece".
About half the readership of the UK based Classical Guitar magazine
is UK resident, and most will have some idea of grades so its
helpful
to them to know roughly where a piece sits in grade terms.
For many years "the" Bach Bourree (Em) was a grade 6 piece, now
considered a bit too hard for 6.
I think so long as folks don't forget that grading is arbitrary and
only an outline or framework, it can be helpful, not least to avoid
disruptive leaps in standard when setting pieces for students.
Stephen
On 4 Aug 2013, at 15:09, Christopher Wilke wrote:
.....
[On a side note, I've been amused to follow the side topic that
this
thread has spawned regarding the qualifications for grade
examiners in
the UK. A couple of my compositions have been reviewed in British
publications. They always say something like, "this is a Grade 6
piece". As an American, I wonder what the heck that even means.
Despite
the thoroughness of the system, what I've learned has done
nothing to
dissuade me from believing that performance study is essentially
arbitrary.]
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