Piano Sonata no. 10 in C, op. 70, "Trill"
Romantic Sonata Piano solo ~7 min
In brief

This Sonata No. 10 has a contemplative, vertiginous quality where the texture revolves around a central trill that produces sustained tension rather than a straightforward singing melody. On the technical side, you will need to work on Harmonic analysis (3.6/5) to read and anticipate the shifting stacked sonorities that change the colour constantly, and on Sustain pedal (3.1/5) to achieve a very nuanced legato — the practical gesture here requires precise half-pedalling and quick releases to avoid sonic muddiness. It is a late work in Scriabin’s piano output and occupies a distinctive place among his sonatas for its emphasis on colour and texture over traditional thematic development.

MusicCoach difficulty
93/100
Master repertoire
Likely range : 88–99/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
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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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
9
95/100 normalised · 2 obs.
Relative difficulty
99%
Among Alexander Scriabin
100%
Era Romantic
99%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Ornaments
Romantic ornaments
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.

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