The latest updates to the Trinity College London Classical Performance diploma repertoire lists bring together an expanded and stylistically diverse selection of works across a range of instruments, reflecting both established repertoire and contemporary additions. In this post, we focus on those instruments that have been refreshed the most: Piano, Trumpet, Drum Kit, Percussion and Harp.
Piano
Piano is where we see the most significant increase in works added to the repertoire lists with 37 added for ATCL, 42 for LTCL and 30 for FTCL. As you have come to expect from Trinity, the works added combine the well-known with the more contemporary. Alongside works by Chopin, Liszt, Poulenc, Bach, Rachmaninov, Handel, Clara and Robert Schumann, you will also find works by Louie, Liebermann, Auerbach, Knussen, Takemitsu, Shchedrin and Kapustin. There are some fabulous arrangements of popular classics, such as Hough’s arrangement of the Sound of Music classic, My Favourite Things, at LTCL, and Tenenbaum’s transcription of Bernstein’s West Side Story at FTCL.
The inclusion of more jazz-inspired works is also notable, coinciding with TCL Press’ release of Rob Colley's Advanced Piano Collection: 10 jazz-inspired pieces for diploma-level performance, which is designed specifically with ATCL candidates in mind. They have also released Matt Dibble’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, and three of these are listed at ATCL.
Want to explore our new piano repertoire further? You can listen to a number of the pieces on our Spotify playlist.
Trumpet
Our trumpet repertoire has been refreshed to include more composers from the last 150 years. Candidates can incorporate elements of minimalism, avant-garde and jazz-influenced music with works by Nyman, Maxwell Davies, Stockhausen and Gershwin.
The amount of repertoire from the brass band tradition, including works written for the Salvation Army, has also been expanded at all diploma levels. Examples include Jubilance by Himes which is written for Cornet at ATCL, Rhapsody for Cornet by Langford at LTCL and Before the Cross by Gregson at FTCL.
Of particular note, is the addition of works specifically written for, and to be performed on, the baroque/natural trumpet. This entirely new and unique initiative has also been introduced at all levels and includes works by Purcell, Viviani and Fasch.
Drum Kit and Percussion
Drum Kit repertoire lists are always a tad different from the others: it is the one instrument where the lines between Classical, Jazz and Popular are a little softer and we have long seen works by Dream Theater and Dave Weckl included. As such, the Classical Performance Drum Kit lists can also act as a source of inspiration for those working towards one of our Rock & Pop Diplomas.
There is also updated guidance around backing tracks, click tracks, and submitting own-choice repertoire.
This year’s updates to the list aims to extend on the music available across these genres with the inclusion of works by Tool (ATCL), Animals as Leaders (ATCL and LTCL) and Periphery (LTCL). The eagle-eyed among you might also notice a couple of commercial hits on the LTCL list too: Cinema by Benny Benassi and Skrillex, and Justin Bieber’s Sorry.
For Percussionists, we see an increase in the works influenced by non-European music. Examples include Ailello’s Classic African written for Timpani (ATCL), Mancini’s Multi-Percussion piece, Latin Journey at LTCL, and John Willmarth’s Bushido: The Way of the Warrior for Timpani (LTCL) which was inspired by Japanese traditions and the history of the samurai. We also have our first composition for Djembe featured on our repertoire list for LTCL: Prime Ordinals by Casella.
Harp
Our additional repertoire for Harp has something of a Francophone theme running through them. Composers originating from France and French-speaking Canada have been listed including works by Connesson and Renié at ATCL, Lizotte (LTCL and FTCL) and Cras (FTCL).
Important note
While our intention is always to extend the repertoire available for candidates to play in their exams, sometimes we have to remove items too: for example, if a work goes out of print. It is therefore imperative that teachers and candidates check the most up-to-date repertoire list before entering for an exam.
Works that have been removed from the repertoire list in this most recent refresh will still be accepted as part of a diploma recital until 31 March 2027. After this point, if a candidate wishes to perform an item that is no longer on the repertoire list, they will need to apply for their programme to be approved, specifying the work as an own-choice item. More information about this can be found on our website.
If you’re looking for more guidance on crafting your diploma recital programme by incorporating some own-choice repertoire, why not check out our blog: Top 5 tips for submitting a diploma recital programme for approval.
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