Fantasy No. 1 with Fugue
FugueFantasia Piano solo
In brief

This Fantasy with Fugue has an atmosphere of sharp contrast between improvisatory outbursts and tight polyphony, where fanciful flights quickly give way to demanding counterpoint. You will need to focus on Passages rapides (2.5/5) — here that means keeping digital clarity and evenness in fast runs without losing the melodic line — and Doubles notes (2.5/5), which require finger independence and controlled distribution of weight so the important voice sings through while chords remain precise. Placed among the works where Mozart investigates contrapuntal writing within keyboard pieces, it shows his tendency to combine free fantasy with fugal technique in his piano repertoire. I am not confident enough to name a definitive recording for this exact piece, so I do not suggest one.

MusicCoach difficulty
68/100
Advanced
Likely range : 56–80/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 7 to 8

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
98%
Among Mozart
83%
Era
61%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Technique
Double notes
1
Technique
Fast passages
1
Technique
Two-voice polyphony
1
Style
Baroque style
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