Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, S.529
Romantic FugueFantasia Piano solo ~12 min
In brief

This Fantasy and Fugue on the B-A-C-H theme opens with a dramatic, impassioned fantasia followed by tightly woven contrapuntal writing where momentum is focused into dense textures. You will need to work particularly on Harmonic analysis (4.4/5) to track the quick modulations and chord inversions that shape the progressions, and Polyphony for three or more voices (4.4/5), which here requires voicing each line independently — for instance balancing attacks and dynamics in the left hand when the middle voice carries the theme while the right hand plays ornaments. The piece belongs to the Romantic period and represents Liszt's virtuosic engagement with fugue and fantasy within his piano output.

MusicCoach difficulty
94/100
Master repertoire
Likely range : 82–100/100
Confidence : 45% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
Beyond grade 8

The grade scale stops at 8; this work belongs to concert or diploma repertoire.

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
97%
Among Franz Liszt
100%
Era Romantic
98%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Technique
Three-or-more-voice polyphony
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Ornaments
Romantic ornaments
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