2 Esquisses, for piano, H. 173
Modern Piano solo ~6 min
In brief

These Two Sketches convey a meditative yet unsettled mood, where slow motifs are interrupted by angular chords that create uncertain breathing rather than a straightforward melody. Technically, pay attention to the Polyrhythmie 2 contre 3 (3.1/5) — you must sustain independent two- and three-beat streams with an internally steady pulse — and the Style impressionniste (3.1/5), which calls for a coloristic piano touch more than mechanical playing, using differentiated attacks and careful pedal placement. The pieces come from the composer's modern period and belong to his short piano miniatures, favoring concise textures over extended development. I do not give a reference recording here out of caution.

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  • Play — Deux Esquisses H. 173 (1943), partition défilante · George N. Gianopoulos (the player loads on click)

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  • Play — 2 Esquisses: No. 2, Allegretto malinconico · Arthur Honegger, Lucette Descaves (the player loads on click)

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MusicCoach difficulty
50/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 38–62/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5 to 6

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
46%
Among Arthur Honegger
42%
Era Modern
Genre
Estimated skills
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
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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