Grande paraphrase de la marche pour Sa Majesté le sultan Abdul Medjid-Khan, S.403, R.157
Romantic MarchTranscription Piano solo Arrangement ~9 min
In brief

This Grande paraphrase projects a brilliant, showy character: alternating emphatic march-like chords with virtuosic cascades that evoke ceremonial pomp while maximizing dramatic piano effects. Technically you will focus on Technique générale (3.3/5) — here that means controlling wide right-hand leaps, fast scales and arpeggios and coordinating wrist/arm weight to keep clarity and power — and on Sustain pedal (3.1/5), which requires precise pedaling to connect chromatic harmonies without creating blurring. Placed in Liszt’s late-romantic output, it belongs to his series of transcriptions and paraphrases written for concert display and virtuosic effect. I do not provide a reference recording because I am not fully certain of a single authoritative interpretation for this specific piece.

MusicCoach difficulty
92/100
Master repertoire
Likely range : 80–100/100
Confidence : 42% · 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
95%
Among Franz Liszt
99%
Era Romantic
99%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Technique
General technique
2
Interpretation
Dynamics
1
Technique
Fast passages
1
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