Organ Sonata in B flat major, Wq. 70, no. 2
Classical Sonata Piano solo ~8 min
In brief

This sonata in B-flat major alternates lively passages with more introspective episodes, featuring punctuated responses and register leaps that give it a discursive, contrasting character. You will need to rely on your Harmonic analysis (3.6/5) to follow the quick modulations and adjust hand distribution accordingly, and on Phrasing (2.5/5) to shape answers and cadences with nuanced attacks and releases. The piece belongs to the Classical period and reflects C. P. E. Bach's expressive keyboard sonata style, sitting between the galant manner and the empfindsamer approach. I do not provide a reference recording here because I am not fully confident in naming a single definitive interpretation for this specific work.

MusicCoach difficulty
49/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 37–61/100
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.

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Relative difficulty
51%
Among Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
52%
Era Classical
23%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Style
Classical style
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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