Intermezzo Op.117 No.3 in C-sharp minor
Intermezzo Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Intermezzo in C-sharp minor projects an intimate, melancholic restraint, with small surges of tension that feel like a quiet, charged conversation. Technically, watch the Legato (2.5/5) — you must keep melodic lines smoothly connected despite brief internal breaths — and Independence of the hands (2.5/5), since the left hand provides a discreet accompaniment while the right shapes motifs that are sometimes offset; the gesture demands finger control and exact hand-to-hand coordination. The piece belongs to Brahms's late piano intermezzi collected in Op.117, occupying an introspective corner of his piano output. I do not offer a reference recording here because I am not certain enough to name a specific definitive interpretation.

MusicCoach difficulty
68/100
Advanced
Likely range : 54–82/100
Confidence : 55% · 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
Combined exam syllabi
Grade 8
76/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
69%
Among Johannes Brahms
84%
Era
87%
Genre
Estimated skills
Technique
Hand independence
1
Technique
Legato
1
Interpretation
Dynamics
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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