Piano Sonata no. 13 in A major, D.664, op. 120
Romantic Sonata Piano solo ~22 min
In brief

The work has a luminous, pastoral intimacy: singing themes alternate with clear breaths and sprightly episodes that call for sustained softness. Technically you will face especially Legato (4.4/5), which requires maintaining a vocal line through finger connections and controlled support to avoid breaks, and Nuances (4.4/5), which demand subtle touch shading to bring out inner voices without hardening the attack. The sonata belongs to the Romantic period and occupies a place as a relatively concise, lyrical piece in Schubert's output, often seen as an example of his taste for simple, expressive melody. I do not provide a reference recording here, out of caution since I cannot guarantee the accuracy of a specific performer name.

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MusicCoach difficulty
69/100
Advanced
Likely range : 62–76/100
Confidence : 63% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 8 ABRSM

Official level, taken from the exam syllabus.

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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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
6
62/100 normalised · 6 obs.
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 8
76/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
86%
Among Franz Schubert
74%
Era Romantic
73%
Genre
Movements and pieces of this work

One rarely plays the whole work: each movement has its own level — often very different from the opus's overall score.

Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Technique
Legato
3
Interpretation
Dynamics
3
Interpretation
Phrasing
3
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Hand independence
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.

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