Intermezzo Op.118 No.2 in A major
Intermezzo Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This Intermezzo feels intimate and reflective, shifting between clear lyrical statements and brief inward harmonies that suggest a held-back confidant voice rather than overt drama. You will particularly need to work on Balance mains (4.8/5) — keeping the primary melody projected while finely controlling inner accompaniments through weight and arm speed — and Pédale de sustain (4.8/5), which requires exact releases and changes to connect chords without blurring the lines. The piece comes from Brahms's late period, where he often compresses form and concentrates expressive density into short works. Several historical and modern recordings are frequently recommended for this piece by well-known Romantic repertory pianists.

MusicCoach difficulty
61/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 53–70/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
On the syllabus: Grade 7 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 7
66/100 normalised
Relative difficulty
60%
Among Johannes Brahms
75%
Era
68%
Genre
Estimated skills
Tone
Hand balance
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Interpretation
Singing voice
1
Technique
Legato
2
Technique
Hand independence
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.

See the whole progression