For audition pieces:
Is it acceptable to add articulations/crescendos/decrescendos?
Is it also acceptable to flat out change or delete the A's/C's/D's ?
I found this in a search:
arnuphal wrote:In a performance that is not adjudicated, the choice is purely artistic, but in a competition or audition, one could be marked down for revising the published version.
Would they do this for say, a Sr. District audition?
jbaylies wrote:For audition pieces:
Is it acceptable to add articulations/crescendos/decrescendos?
Is it also acceptable to flat out change or delete the A's/C's/D's ?
Would they do this for say, a Sr. District audition?
no. strictly as written. work within the boundaries of what is on the page.
I was told to remember that some people on the audition committee might not have any idea how the tuba part goes, so they will judge you on how well you play off the page. So for the first round I would stay strictly with what's on the page, and then for the finals I would make some music out of it.
The cut-off for me has always been: are you playing a solo or not? (even if THAT SOLO is in the middle of a work; it's up to you to make music out of it, as long as you keep it characteristic to the work ).
Parts or excerpts, however, should be WHAT'S ON THE PAGE ONLY. For one, you want to demonstrate that you can do it under any circumstances. For another, the last thing any conductor or director wants is 157 different interpretations DESPITE whatever they are trying to communicate.
Instead of talking to your plants, if you yelled at them would they still grow, but only to be troubled and insecure?
For a professional orchestral or military band audition, I agree with what's been said here that you must play within the confines of the ink. For a high school solo/ensemble contest, or for an all-district solo I think you have a little more room. For instance if you have a long passage of running fast notes and you need to drop a note to breath then you can mark it in the part that you give to the judge. I've never heard of being marked down for something like that. Changing notes would probably be too much unless there is a mistake in the part; changing dynamics can work again as long as you mark it in the part you give to the judge and as long as those dynamics make sense. I've seen baroque transcriptions for tuba with pretty silly dynamic and articulation markings and if you change them and it sounds good, then I don't see it as a big deal for a high school district audition. I think your private teacher should be the one to approve any of your changes (ie something a high school kid thinks sounds good may not sound good to a more experienced musician). Whatever the case the judge must have a part marked with what you intend to do.
There has been an instance where a winning candidate at a major orchestral audition played a cadenza that was completely different from the ink. The candidate gave a copy of that cadenza to the committee before playing it so that they knew what he was doing.
You should read Roger Bobo's blog about the Vaughan-Williams' Concerto before you get too fixed an idea about how to play any solo piece. He makes more sense about that "editing" than almost any other thing I have read. Bobo's idea is that the printed page was produced using Catellinet's articulations and not necessarily the ones Vaughan-Williams would have asked for. Also, there is a great deal of scholarship, on that piece, citing errors in the editing and publishing. But, be prepared to defend your decisions. Mostly, on a solo like this, make MUSIC.
Always make a good sound; audiences will forget if you miss a note but making a good sound will get you the next job.
