4 Polish Dances, M60
Romantic Piano solo ~10 min
In brief

These Four Polish Dances alternate brisk, dance-like figures and more lyrical episodes, with folk-inflected accents and crisp attacks that call for forward momentum and clear articulation rather than diffuse sentiment. Technically, expect to work on Tempo rubato (3.1/5) — the subtle flexible pacing of the right hand to shape phrases while keeping the underlying pulse — and Sustain pedal (3.1/5) — precise pedal release and changes are needed to avoid blurring the dance textures. Placed in the romantic period in the composer’s output, the dances act as piano miniatures that channel Polish folk elements within a broader piano repertoire. I do not provide specific performer references here to avoid risking an inaccurate attribution.

MusicCoach difficulty
50/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 38–62/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 5 to 6

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
9%
Among Karol Szymanowski
35%
Era Romantic
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
Dynamics
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