Sounding better

I just tried to play an excerpt (Variation H) from Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and realised that it is so much more easier to play than the excerpts from the third movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Maybe I should consider playing Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra for the exams instead?

Earlier the evening, I tried playing Alan Ridout's Concerto for Double Bass and Strings, it is starting to sound better. The tutor deserves the credit of helping me to figure out how to play this concerto.

Now, I have to learnt to count diligently, and trust in my counting. More importantly, it is to relax and to enjoy playing the music. I have never heard this work being performed with piano accompaniment. I wonder how this work would sound when the piano accompaniment comes in? Does anyone has recordings for me to listen? I have tried to check up Lemur Music but can't find any.

It does help with practising when one's mind is not bogged down by worries and anxieties of the upcoming exams!

Talking about overcoming anxieties and learning to be more fluid in my approach to music-making, I think I should re-read my copy of Julie Lyonn Lieberman's You are your own instrument for some ideas. I just realised that there is a section on sight-reading music. That is what I would need.