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.
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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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.
Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
The piece features sharp contrasts and shifting moods: it moves between tense, angular passages and more lyrical but fragmented episodes, with a dense orchestral presence that requires the soloist to be dramatically precise. Technically you will face particularly the Touch control (Contrôle du toucher) rated 2.5/5 — here that means finely adjusting bow pressure and speed to achieve either crisp attacks or more veiled tones — and Double stops (Doubles notes) rated 2.5/5, which demand steady intonation and careful left-hand finger pressure and alignment to keep the intervals in tune and audible. It is a concerto for cello and orchestra that belongs among the composer's concertos and reflects his polystylistic, dramatic approach within his output. I do not give specific reference recordings because I am not fully confident about precise, widely recognized interpretations for this particular work.