4 Consolations, for organ
Romantic Consolation Piano solo ~24 min
In brief

This Consolation has a nocturnal, caressing character, with lyrical arabesques that call for a singing softness rather than overt pianistic show. The main technical challenges include Tempo rubato (3.1/5), requiring the ability to stretch and release the pulse without upsetting the accompaniment, and Sustain pedal (3.1/5), which here demands very precise pedaling to preserve resonance without blurring inner voices — making partial releases and pedal changes aligned with harmonic shifts. As a Romantic piece, these Consolations occupy an intermediate place in Liszt’s output, reflecting his taste for intimate lyricism alongside his more virtuosic works. I do not list reference recordings because I am not entirely certain of a single widely recognized interpretation for this organ arrangement.

MusicCoach difficulty
61/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 49–73/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

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
16%
Among Franz Liszt
58%
Era Romantic
61%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Technique
Legato
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.

See the whole progression