Exams/Trinity/Trinity · Grade 6
Set pieces and reviews
Trinity College London Grade 6 piano runs on the 2023+ syllabus, in force for 2024–26 exams. The repertoire is a single list with no List A/B/C split; candidates choose three pieces (one of which may be a free-choice piece or own composition that fits the level). The list itself is the property of Trinity College London; references on this page are factual citations of each composition.
Exam pieces — editorial reviews
C minor · 132 bpm
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 847 (from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1)
Johann Sebastian Bach
The C-minor pair from Book 1 of *The Well-Tempered Clavier* (1722) is one of the canonical entry points into Bach's mature keyboard counterpoint.
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C major · 132 bpm
Sonata in C, K. 545 — first movement
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozart described *K.
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E♭ major · 132 bpm
Nocturne in E♭ major, Op. 9 No. 2
Frédéric Chopin
Chopin published his *Op.
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E major · 96 bpm
Song Without Words, Op. 19 No. 1 (Sweet Remembrance)
Felix Mendelssohn
Mendelssohn's *Lieder ohne Worte* (Songs Without Words) — eight books published between 1832 and 1845 — are the central Romantic intermediate-grade repertoire alongside Schumann's piano cycles.
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G♭ major · 60 bpm
La fille aux cheveux de lin (No. 8 from Préludes, Book 1)
Claude Debussy
Debussy's *Préludes Book 1* (1909–10) sit at the centre of the Impressionist piano repertoire, and *La fille aux cheveux de lin* ("The Girl with the Flaxen Hair") is one of the most-played pieces in the cycle — a hushed pentatonic melody in G♭ major, evoking the Leconte de Lisle poem of the same title.
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D · 152 bpm
For Children, vol. 2, No. 40 (Pig-Driver's Song)
Béla Bartók
Bartók's *For Children* volume 2 reaches genuine recital repertoire by its closing pieces — folk-derived melodies set with the harmonic and rhythmic complexity of Bartók's mature voice.
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D minor · 152 bpm
The Snow is Dancing (No. 4 from Children's Corner, L. 113)
Claude Debussy
Debussy composed *Children's Corner* (1906–08) as a gift for his young daughter Chouchou, and the cycle has been a pianist's piece since its publication.
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A minor · 120 bpm
Rondo alla Turca (from Sonata in A, K. 331)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
The *Rondo alla Turca* is the closing movement of Mozart's *Sonata in A, K.
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E minor · 96 bpm
Comptine d'un autre été — l'après-midi (from Amélie)
Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen wrote *Comptine d'un autre été* ("a tune from another summer") for the 2001 film *Amélie* (Jean-Pierre Jeunet), and the piece has become one of the most-played examples of the post-minimalist film-piano idiom — a continuous broken-chord pattern in the right hand under a slow-moving melodic line in the left, with a clear modal harmonic plan that recurs across the page..
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Other set pieces
The remaining pieces on the official Trinity Grade 6 repertoire list. Editorial reviews for these are in preparation; for now, the full scores and notes appear in the official syllabus book.
- Two-Part Invention No. 8 in F, BWV 779Johann Sebastian Bach
- Romanian Folk Dance No. 4 (Buciumeana)Béla Bartók
- Bagatelle in A minor, Op. 119 No. 9Ludwig van Beethoven
- Pierrette, Op. 41Cécile Chaminade
- Mazurka in A minor, Op. 67 No. 4Frédéric Chopin
- The Little Negro (Le petit nègre)Claude Debussy
- Humoresque, Op. 101 No. 7Antonín Dvořák
- Arietta (from Lyric Pieces, Op. 12)Edvard Grieg
- Sonata in C, Hob. XVI:35 — FinaleJoseph Haydn
- Spinning Song, Op. 67 No. 4Felix Mendelssohn
- Fantasia in D minor, K. 397Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
- Hot Salsa (from Microjazz)Christopher Norton
- Prelude in C♯ minor, Op. 3 No. 2Sergei Rachmaninov
- Gnossienne No. 1Erik Satie
- Sonata in C, K. 159Domenico Scarlatti
- Important Event (from Kinderszenen, Op. 15)Robert Schumann
- Intermezzo No. 2Manuel María Ponce
Syllabus sections
- Scales
- Sight-reading
- Aural
- Theory
- Practice planplaceholder
External reading