Variations on God Save the King, WoO 78
Romantic Variations Piano solo 1 min
In brief

This set of variations alternates a bright, playful character with more songlike episodes where the theme is transformed while remaining clear. Technical challenges include specifically the "Connaissance des formes (3.8/5)", which here requires identifying and shaping each variation to respect repeats and dynamic contrasts, and the "Pédale de sustain (3.1/5)", which demands precise pedaling to smooth certain connections without blurring inner voices. Given here as belonging to the Romantic period, the piece sits among Beethoven’s piano variations and already shows a formal inventiveness pointing toward Romantic language. I do not provide a reference interpretation because I cannot state with full certainty a particular recording for this work.

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  • Play — Beethoven - 7 Variations on "God Save the King", WoO 78 (Audio+Sheet) [Cziffra] · PianoJFAudioSheet (the player loads on click)

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  • Play — 7 Variations on "God save the King", WoO 78: Var. 4 · Ludwig van Beethoven, Angela Hewitt (the player loads on click)

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MusicCoach difficulty
47/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 41–53/100
Confidence : 55% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 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.

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Difficulty sources
Henle Verlag
5
50/100 normalised · 3 obs.
Relative difficulty
32%
Among Ludwig van Beethoven
29%
Era Romantic
25%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Theory
Knowledge of forms
1
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Technique
Legato
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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