Fantasy on Czech National Songs in B major, JB 1:83
Romantic Fantasia Piano solo ~10 min
In brief

This fantasy alternates dance-like folk episodes with broad lyrical passages, producing an atmosphere both rhythmic and wistful where tunes call and answer like festive songs that then fall back into more meditative phrases. Technically, two aspects stand out: Tempo rubato (3.1/5) requires a flexible yet controlled pulse — small hesitations and recoveries must be precisely coordinated between the hands to maintain overall shape; Sustain pedal (3.1/5) calls for careful, discreet pedaling to connect melodic lines without blurring the voices during harmonic changes. The piece belongs to the Romantic period and, within Smetana's output, functions as a piano fantasy that blends virtuosic writing with national, folkloric material.

MusicCoach difficulty
60/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 48–72/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

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.

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Relative difficulty
91%
Among Bedrich Smetana
55%
Era Romantic
49%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Style
Character and style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
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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