Ständchen
Piano solo
In brief

This "Ständchen" calls for an intimate, caressing atmosphere with a singing forward motion that must stay light rather than showy; think lullaby-like phrasing close to the spoken voice. Technically, note the Phrasing (2.5/5): you will need to shape each melodic line with subtle breath-like timing and internal nuance, and Legato (2.5/5): fingerings and weight transfers must be planned to connect notes without breaks, using a relaxed arm to support the hand. In Schubert's catalogue, this type of piece belongs to his song-derived repertoire and to piano transcriptions of his melodies, intended for lyrical expression more than orchestral virtuosity.

Listen to this work

These recordings are found automatically, and the machine still gets it wrong. One click from you — yes or no — fixes the catalogue for every musician who opens this page after you. Across our 10,000 works, your answer is our only real quality check.

An arrangement or transcription is fine: if you recognise the work, answer yes. Answer no if it is a different work, a different composer, or if the recording does not play.

  • Play — Schubert - "Ständchen" D957 · HARMONICO101 (the player loads on click)

    Open on Youtube ↗

    Is this the right work?

No account is required and no personal data is collected.

MusicCoach difficulty
42/100
Elementary
Likely range : 30–54/100
Confidence : 42% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 4 to 5

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
36%
Among Franz Schubert
37%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Style
Character and style
1
Technique
Legato
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Interpretation
Phrasing
1
Style
Romantic 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