Audition excerpt maps — Stauffer CM Course (recording due 8 Jul 2026)

For each excerpt: target BPM, the known traps, how to practice it, and how hard it is on the body. BPM shows where to start and where you are heading — ramp gradually and log your achieved BPM each session. Never drill both high-load excerpts (Don Juan and Schumann) at tempo in the same session.

Three principles that guide every excerpt:

• Break it into chunks, then put it back together. Decomposing a passage works — but the chunks must be reassembled at tempo, or you get audible pauses at the joins. Every map ends with an unbroken run-through at a slightly eased-back tempo. This matters most for Schumann and Don Juan.
• Drill something new in isolation first, then mix it in. A fresh problem — a new Don Juan leap fingering, a new Schumann bowing — gets focused drilling until it is reliable, before you fold it into mixed practice with the other excerpts.
• Spread intonation work across days, not across one long session. Accuracy locks in overnight. Touch the lyrical pair (Scheherazade, Brahms) on consecutive days to bank those gains. Do not mass one excerpt in a single marathon session.

1. Strauss — Don Juan, opening → 13th bar after C · Load: HIGH

• Tempo: Allegro molto con brio, ~half-note 84 (≈ ♩168). Build from half-note 60.
• Traps:
  • The opening upward leap + the high arrival — intonation and a clean, confident attack, no scooping.
  • Evenness of the fast figures under bravura energy; do not rush.
  • Dotted rhythms crisp, not triplet-ised.
  • Bow distribution so the big phrases sustain without running out or crushing the tone.
  • String crossings clean at speed; right arm and back stay relaxed — this is the back-risk one.
• Approach: map rhythm and intonation slow → drill the leap in isolation, blocked (½ tempo ×3, then to tempo) → work segment by phrase → ramp tempo +4–6 BPM per session only when clean and back is okay → reassemble: opening through 13 after C, unbroken, at ~10% below target tempo, no seam pauses → full passage take. Short bursts, rest between.

2. Rimsky-Korsakov — Scheherazade, mvt II, mm 1–5 (the CM solo) · Load: Low

• Tempo: recitative / rubato — no fixed BPM. Free, but controlled.
• Traps:
  • Expressive freedom without losing line or shape.
  • Intonation on the exposed leaps and the cadenza-like flourish.
  • Grace notes and trills clean and unhurried.
  • Tone colour and a singing, narrative quality — this is a story-teller solo.
  • Tasteful, structured rubato — decide the timing, then do it that way each time, rather than improvising it differently on every take.
• Approach: sing the line through first → map intonation slowly in strict time → add the rubato deliberately → experiment with tone colour → record and listen for narrative shape. Good for a recovery day (low physical load) — pairs well after a high-load excerpt.

3. Schumann — Symphony No. 2, mvt II, mm 1–54 · Load: HIGH (stamina)

• Tempo: Scherzo, Allegro vivace — fast perpetual sixteenths, ~♩150 (build from ♩96).
• Traps:
  • Evenness and clarity of relentless sixteenths at speed — this tests your endurance.
  • Bow stroke choice (controlled sautillé / spiccato vs détaché) consistent all the way through.
  • String crossings clean; left- and right-hand coordination locked.
  • Stamina without tension — the relentlessness invites a death-grip and shoulder/back bracing. This is the highest re-injury risk excerpt → build duration gradually.
• Approach: build endurance in stages — drill short cells (4–8 bars) cleanly at tempo first, with rest; extend the unbroken span over weeks (8 → 16 → 32 → full). Use dotted/reverse-dotted rhythms for evenness. Always close with a reassembly pass — that day's full span unbroken at ~10% below target tempo; the perpetuum mobile cannot have breathing room at the joins, so listen for seam pauses. Ramp tempo only when relaxed. Your back gates this one hard: a-bit-sore → bursts only; genuinely sore → leave it entirely. Never at tempo in the same session as Don Juan.

4. Brahms — Symphony No. 1, mvt II, letter E → end (the CM solo) · Load: Moderate

• Tempo: Andante sostenuto — lyrical, flexible (~♩84-ish, following the phrase).
• Traps:
  • Intonation in the high register and the exposed arrivals near the end.
  • Sustained legato bow — long, even phrases, seamless bow changes.
  • Vibrato consistency and warmth across the whole register.
  • Phrase architecture — the long line builds to its peak; pace it.
  • Tasteful portamento and expression in the Brahms style.
• Approach: map shifts and intonation slowly → plan bow distribution for the long phrases → vibrato and tone work → phrase-shaping → record and listen for the line. Moderate load — a good recovery or lyrical day anchor alongside Scheherazade.

Weekly load pairing

• High-load day: ONE of {Don Juan, Schumann} + a lyrical excerpt (Scheherazade or Brahms) as the cool-down. Keep it short, keep an eye on the back.
• Lyrical / recovery day: Scheherazade + Brahms, sustained tone work, lower strain.
• The two high-load excerpts land on different days. Both yield to your back first.