Solo Performing
Solo performing is internally assessed and externally moderated. At SL you record a programme of roughly 15 minutes of contrasting solo music, unedited and in single takes, submitted with scores or lead sheets for the moderator. The component rewards secure technique, stylistic understanding and communication across a balanced programme.
What the recording must show
- Contrast: different periods, styles or characters, so the programme demonstrates range (lyrical and virtuosic, fast and slow, different keys or eras).
- Appropriate level of demand: accurate, controlled playing of a slightly easier work outscores a scrambled attempt at a harder one.
- Technique: tone and intonation, articulation or bowing, breathing, pedalling, rhythmic stability, fluency.
- Interpretation: style-appropriate ornamentation, dynamics, tempo and phrasing; observed repeats and markings.
- Presentation: clean tuning and pauses, balanced accompaniment, no splicing or studio correction.
Worked example
A pianist plans: Bach Prelude and Fugue, a Chopin Nocturne, a Bartók dance. Reasoning: the programme spans Baroque counterpoint, Romantic rubato and twentieth-century asymmetrical metre, testing three distinct techniques. Repertoire choice follows score study: realising Baroque ornaments idiomatically, controlling rubato without losing the bass line, projecting Bartók’s accents in changing metre. Three Chopin works would fail the contrast test and hide weaknesses in counterpoint.
Traps
- Over-ambitious repertoire that collapses under performance pressure.
- Spliced or corrected recordings, which are not permitted.
- Ignoring repeats, dynamics or ornaments printed in the score.
- An unbalanced accompanist or a recording where the solo line disappears.
- A monochrome programme, or long silent gaps between items.
- Failing to supply legible scores for the moderator.