Estimated from our difficulty score, not taken from an exam syllabus. Checked against 333 works on the ABRSM syllabus: the exact grade is right 7 times out of 10, and within one grade 99 times out of 100.
Difficulty estimate by MusicCoach on a scale of 1 to 100.
Most works cluster between 45 and 65: a small score gap often marks a real step. The highlighted bar shows this work among those for the same instrument.
The MusicCoach difficulty measures a work's overall demands (technique, reading, stamina) on a shared 0-100 scale, consolidated from editorial and pedagogical reference points (Henle, exam syllabuses, curation) and our own analyses. It measures neither musical value nor the practice time YOU will need: two musicians of the same level can experience the same work very differently depending on their strengths (hands used to octaves, quick sight-reading…). The confidence reflects how many reference points sit behind the score and how well they agree — a lightly documented score is flagged “to validate”. For a truly personal bearing, the diagnostic and your space compare each work to YOUR estimated level, which the score alone cannot do.
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This D minor sonata feels tense and urgent, alternating sharp staccato figures with more singing episodes where the drama persists through dialog between the hands. You will particularly face Analysis harmonique (3.6/5), which here requires following quick modulations and chromatic progressions to make the phrase logic clear, and Touch control (Contrôle du toucher, 2.5/5), which requires precise finger placement to balance the melody and often contrapuntal accompaniment; concretely you must manage shifts of support and differentiate light from more struck attacks without losing voice clarity. From the Classical period, the piece is one of Haydn's less common minor-key keyboard sonatas and shows his taste for dramatic contrast within the sonata form. I do not list a reference interpretation because I am not fully certain of a specific recording for this particular sonata.