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.
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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Each suggestion combines difficulty gap, risk, confidence and skill overlap. The first two cards in each column are the most useful pedagogically.
The safest next step.
A genuine step up, without a jolt.
A useful leap with guided practice.
The work projects a percussive, colorful energy, often tense and bright, with rapid outbursts alternating with more sustained passages that suggest dramatic, metallic gestures rather than long lyrical lines. Technically, expect to work on Touch control (Contrôle du toucher) (2.5/5) — here that means precisely modulating bow pressure and speed to shift from dry, percussive attacks to more sustained strokes — and Polyphony of three voices or more (Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus) (2.5/5), which requires bringing out multiple simultaneous lines through subtle adjustments of bow distribution and left-hand intonation. This is a contemporary piece for violin and orchestra, representative of Michael Daugherty's modern orchestral output and his focus on timbral contrast. I do not list a reference interpretation because I am not certain of a specific recording for this work.