Piano Sonata in E flat major
Modern Sonata Piano solo ~22 min
In brief

This E-flat major sonata projects a rhythmic drive and orchestral colouring that alternate between percussive pulses and broad lyrical episodes, giving the piece striking contrasts rather than a single prevailing mood. You will face specifically the Analysis of harmony (3.6/5), which requires quickly identifying chord progressions and inversions to balance inner voices, and 2-against-3 polyrhythms (3.1/5), which demand hand independence and precise subdivision to keep the interacting accents clear. The work belongs to the composer's modern period and illustrates his piano writing that blends national character with contemporary harmonic language within the sonata genre. I do not provide a reference recording here because I am not fully certain of a single, widely recognised interpretation for this particular sonata.

MusicCoach difficulty
70/100
Advanced
Likely range : 58–82/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 7 to 8

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
75%
Among Aram Khachaturian
82%
Era Modern
76%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Hand independence
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.

See the whole progression