Keyboard Sonata in E flat major, Hob.deest
Classical Sonata Piano solo ~14 min
In brief

This E-flat major sonata projects classical transparency and crisp dialogue between the hands, requiring precise attacks and a concise legato when lines overlap. The main technical challenges will come from Analysis harmonique (3.6/5) — you must identify and highlight chord progressions and modulations by voicing appropriately (balancing bass and melody) — and Connaissance des formes (3.6/5), which means clearly shaping the exposition, development and recapitulation so the overall form reads to the listener. It belongs to the Classical period and to Haydn's large output of piano sonatas, often composed for domestic or pedagogical use and notable for formal clarity. I do not give a reference interpretation because I am not certain of a widely recognized recording for this specific edition.

MusicCoach difficulty
48/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 36–60/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5

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.

Where this work sits
050100

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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Relative difficulty
55%
Among Franz Joseph Haydn
49%
Era Classical
20%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Style
Classical style
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
What to play next?

Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.

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