Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla, FP173
Modern Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Novelette on a theme by Manuel de Falla has a lively, dance-like character, mixing Spanish popular accents with a delicate ironic edge rather than Romantic weight. Technically, you will specifically face Polyrhythm 2 against 3 (3.1/5), which requires locking independent hand patterns while keeping a steady internal pulse, and Impressionistic style (3.1/5), which calls for refining dynamics and balancing musical layers so harmonic colors emerge without muddying the texture. The piece belongs to Poulenc’s modern period, where he often combines a neoclassical approach with popular influences and nods to Spanish repertoire. Work slowly with your teacher to isolate the rhythmic overlays and practice touch inflections at low volume to bring out the separate sound layers.

Listen to this work

These recordings are found automatically, and the machine still gets it wrong. One click from you — yes or no — fixes the catalogue for every musician who opens this page after you. Across our 10,000 works, your answer is our only real quality check.

An arrangement or transcription is fine: if you recognise the work, answer yes. Answer no if it is a different work, a different composer, or if the recording does not play.

  • Play — Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla · PSearPianist (the player loads on click)

    Open on Youtube ↗

    Is this the right work?
  • Play — Pièce d'examen ABRSM grade 8, commentée · Master Keyz (the player loads on click)

    Open on Youtube ↗

    Is this the right work?
  • Play — Novelette sur un thème de Manuel de Falla, FP 173 · Francis Poulenc, Kotaro Fukuma (the player loads on click)

    Open on Spotify ↗

    Is this the right work?

No account is required and no personal data is collected.

MusicCoach difficulty
45/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 33–57/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5

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.

Does this rating look right to you?

This rating is computed automatically from heterogeneous sources. It gets things wrong, sometimes badly. If you know this work, your answer is worth more than our computation: it tells us which ratings to review.

Add a note (optional)

Your note is not published on the site: it is read in review.

Relative difficulty
11%
Among Francis Poulenc
29%
Era Modern
Genre
Estimated skills
Rhythm
Polyrhythm 2 against 3
1
Style
Modern and contemporary style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Fast passages
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