2015

Comprehensive Examinations in Collaborative Piano

Students completing the Master of Music or Doctor of Musical Arts in Voice Collaborative
Piano must pass a final comprehensive examination. These exams may be taken no more than
three times. A third failure will result in failing the program.

MM Oral Exams
MM students will take a comprehensive oral exam after the completion of the MM
Recital. Students are responsible for scheduling the time and location of the exam. The
examination committee consists of Dr. Harlos, Dr. Puccinelli and the student’s related
field professor.

MM students planning to graduate in the same semester in which the oral exam will be
attempted are advised to note the deadline by which all requirements must be completed
in order to avoid a delay in graduation. The exam may be taken no more than three times.
Failing and retaking the exam may delay graduation; a third failure will result in failing
the program.

DMA Qualifying Exams

Students completing the Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano must pass written
and oral comprehensive examinations. Students will first take the written qualifying exam
on one of the dates set by the College of Music Graduate Studies Office. Once written
exams are passed, the candidate is then responsible for scheduling the time and location
of the oral exam after consulting all committee members. The examination committee
consists of Dr. Harlos, Dr. Puccinelli and the student’s related field professor.
These exams may be taken no more than three times. Failing and retaking the exam may
delay projected graduation; a third failure will result in failing the program.

Preparation and Content

In order to pass these examinations, MM and DMA students will demonstrate a degree-
appropriate level of knowledge related to all areas of collaborative piano performance and
literature, as well as knowledge of lyric diction/sung language. DMA students are additionally
expected to demonstrate knowledge of effective pedagogical strategies for use in studio and
classroom settings.

All students are expected to demonstrate a basic understanding of the historical development and
representative repertoire for the following genres:

• Duo sonatas and larger chamber works involving piano

• Major concerti
 • Art Song/ Song Cycles (including Lieder, mélodie, British and American art song, as well as
other national song literature)
• Opera

For the DMA qualifying exams, students can expect essays and short answer questions
regarding:
• major works and bodies of literature for both vocal and instrumental collaborative repertoire;
• the use of piano and other keyboard instruments in collaborative repertoire;
• issues of performance practice and style;
• teaching collaborative skills;
• analysis and score identification;
• important musical terms;
• major reference works for the discipline; and,
• important personages.

Sample Topics for Preparation

Topics and questions are listed below to aid in your preparation for your exams.
Questions will not necessarily appear in the same form at the exams, but you can expect
similar questions, as well as others which will draw on the answers to the questions
below.
Review all repertoire lists from literature courses.
The bibliography of reference materials will be of assistance with several of these
questions.
Be sure to incorporate score study and review of essential reference texts into your
preparations.
You may be asked to sight-read or play other repertoire in the exam.

1. What are your goals as a pianist? In which ways do you hope to see your skills evolve in
the immediate future? What are your dream pieces or programs? Why?
2. Construct several collaborative programs for yourself. Include vocal and instrumental
literature… or works that involve both. What are some ways to “modernize” the
traditional recital?
3. What are your next steps in creating a career in music for yourself?
4. Who are the pianists you most admire? Why?
5. Who are the collaborative pianists (past and present) you most admire? Why? Who are
some of the major pedagogues in our field and where could you find them if you wanted
to study with them? What are the essential traits necessary to be a successful
collaborative artist?
6. What do you feel to be the essential ingredient(s) in any collaboration? Do these differ
with singers and instrumentalists? If so, how?
7. Discuss the various terminologies: accompanist; pianist; collaborative pianist. How do
they differ? Which do you use/prefer? Are there situations where one might be more
appropriate than another? What tools could you use to market yourself in general? What
is needed to apply for a professional performing position? For a college or university
position? What materials do you need to have ready? Are your materials ready?
8. What does “professionalism” mean to you? How do you apply that in your freelance
work? What issues have you encountered in working with others within the university
 setting, and what have you done to resolve or avoid any problems? What summer
programs or training programs have you applied for or participated in, or intend to apply
for? What experience did you gain/do you hope to gain?
9. Does the repertoire to be learned influence how you approach the music or how you
prepare it? Does knowledge of the background of a piece influence your interpretation of
it? What is the role of research for a performing artist, in your opinion and experience?
Discuss appropriate and complete score preparation for all types of collaborative
literature.
10. What musical styles, other than classical, have you had experience with? Is it important
to be familiar with other styles? Why or why not?

11. Do we need to be able to sight-read in order to be a good collaborator? What can you do
to improve those skills?
12. Typically solo works are performed from memory, and any collaborative literature is
played from the score. How does this affect your learning process and your performance
of the works involved?
13. Discuss your method(s) for memorization. What would you suggest for a student who is
struggling with memory skills?
14. If you were asked to teach collaborative skills, what skills would you emphasize? How
would you “teach” these? How do they differ from skills needed as a soloist? What sort
of support materials (books, recordings, etc.) would you use, and why? What pieces
would you suggest first learning (drawing from all repertoires)? How would you structure
an undergraduate course in collaborative skills?
15. Develop a sample technical regimen for an undergraduate piano major. What are some
collaborative repertoire pieces appropriate for the average student at that level? What
additional issues might you need to address for an undergraduate organ major in a
collaborative piano instruction setting?

16. When confronted with an issue of balance, what should you do? Discuss the importance
of voicing and texture in achieving good balance.
17. Discuss pedaling, in general, and specifically as regards balance and as regards orchestral
playing.
18. Full-stick, half-stick, baby-stick, lid down… Discuss situations when each of these might
be the best choice.
19. Are there different ways of setting up the performance space which might help with
balance or ensemble?

20. What are the types of ensemble? What are some ways to ensure good ensemble, both in
general and in isolated, tricky passages? How can visual contact be of assistance here?
What other techniques can you use to be prepared to always be with your partner?

21. What skills are needed in working with a conductor? How can these be taught/learned?
Do any of these have an application in solo or ensemble work, when there is no
conductor?

22. Compare and contrast preparing a solo sonata with an instrumental sonata. How is this
different when working with a larger ensemble (trio, quartet, etc.)?
23. Discuss the difference in preparing and performing a sonata with virtuoso character
pieces (Sarasate, Kreisler, etc.).
24. What are some of the issues in preparing concerto reductions which we do not encounter
in sonata literature? What benefits are there to knowing the orchestral realities of works
transcribed for piano and voice or instrument? What are some ways to recreate the
orchestral sound? What are some major concerti for string instruments?
25. In what situations might you not play the piano part “as written”? Discuss facilitation of a
score, what it is, why it is necessary, and where it is appropriate.
26. You’ve been called with a desperate last minute request to play a concert. How do you
learn music quickly? What are some ways to deal with difficult passages?

27. What are the benefits of language skills for a pianist? Can you be a successful partner to
singers without them? What are the most important languages to be familiar with, and
what constitutes basic familiarity as opposed to fluency?
28. What is lyric diction? How does it differ from spoken diction? What is IPA and what is
it’s value for performing classical musicians?
29. What are some of the basic reference books on art song, either in general, or for the
repertory of a particular language/country?
30. Is it really necessary to understand every word literally in any sung piece? Is it more
important in certain vocal genres than in others? What are the different types of
translations you can use to aid in your understanding of a text? Are there reference
sources which can aid in this understanding? If so, give examples.

31. Who are some of the major composers of chamber music, and what did they write? Who
are some of the major composers of art song? Be able to briefly discuss their style and/or
works.
32. Are there composers who are well-known for both chamber music and art song? Only
chamber music? Only art song? Who are some of the most commonly-heard opera
composers?

33. The development of the piano and its mass production in the beginning of the 19th
century were of central importance to the flowering of art song. Discuss.
34. Trace the evolution of Lieder (cycles and songs) from Viennese classical composers
through Richard Strauss, giving specific examples from the literature to illustrate your
points about style, form, poets, poetic themes, text setting, text painting, writing for the
voice, interplay between the voice and piano, use of the piano or other accompanimental
partners, etc.
35. Compare the song cycles and styles of Schubert, Schumann, Brahms, Wolf and Strauss.
36. Give a detailed overview of the melodie repertoire. What are Debussy’s songs considered
innovative? How do they compare to the melodies of Faure, Duparc and Ravel? Be
prepared to discuss specific sets or songs as examples.
37. What are some major works in 20th and 21st century British and American art song?

38. Who are important poets in each of the major sung languages? When were these poets
active? What was the poet’s style of writing? Who set these poets, and were the
composers contemporary of the poet, or from a later generation/century? What is
commedia dell’arte and what is it’s significance for the collaborative piano repertory?
39. Compare Beethoven’s violin sonatas with his cello sonatas and other works for cello and
piano (size, style, number, form, writing for the instruments, etc.).
40. Discuss the major 19th and early 20th century works for viola and piano.
41. What are the major works for cello and piano? Discuss form, style, etc. of each.
42. Who are some of the major composers of chamber music, and what did they write? Who
are some of the major composers of art song? Be able to briefly discuss their style and/or
works.
43. Are there composers who are well-known for both chamber music and art song? Only
chamber music? Only art song? Who are some of the most commonly-heard opera
composers?

44. How did developments in the piano as an instrument change the style of writing for this
instrument?
45. As collaborative pianists, we are called upon to play music written for many different
keyboard instruments on the piano (as well as repertoire written for orchestra). Discuss
the differences between various keyboard instruments (their sound, mechanism, style of
music, etc.) and also discuss how we can best approximate the sound of those instruments
on the modern piano.
46. Performance practice issues for a collaborative pianist change significantly whether we’re
playing repertoire transcriberd from the Baroque era, originally for basso continuo,
through concerto reductions from the 21st century. Discuss how performance practice
applies to these various transrciptions as well as to repertoire written for various
keyboard instruments from the late 18th through the early 20th centuries.
47. Discuss the experience of preparing and performing a work by a contemporary composer
for which you do not have a recording. What is it like to work with a living composer?

48. Discuss the fundamental differences in philosophy between Classicism, Romanticism,

and Impressionism. How do these differences manifest themselves in piano music and
collaborative repertoire? How does Neoclassicism make itself known in 20th century
instrumental literature?

49. What are the skills needed in preparing an opera or opera excerpt? How do these compare
to skills needed in preparing a song written for voice and piano? How does these compare
to preparing a vocal selection from a musical or other popular style?
50. The operas of Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini contain some of the most commonly studied
arias. What are some of these arias? Discuss time periods, plots, musical style, or other
pertinent factors. Which other operas feature arias which appear frequently in university
voice studios?