Grand Caprice no. 1, op. 5, M.13
Romantic Capriccio Piano solo ~6 min
In brief

This Grand Caprice No. 1 has a character of sharp contrasts between virtuosic outbursts and more singing replies, with impulsive accents that require a sense of breathing and phrasing rather than continuous long legato lines. Technique: Tempo rubato (3.1/5) here calls for micro-adjustments of tempo—flexible finger attacks and slight delays between phrases to maintain romantic momentum—and Sustain pedal (3.1/5) demands precise half-pedaling and rapid pedal changes to prevent harmonic blurring in dense textures. From the Romantic period, the piece is one of Franck's earlier piano works and reflects his taste for capriccio-like virtuosity within his initial catalogue.

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Is this the right work?
MusicCoach difficulty
70/100
Advanced
Likely range : 58–82/100
Confidence : 38% · 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
79%
Among César Franck
78%
Era Romantic
90%
Genre
Estimated skills
Pedaling
Sustain pedal
1
Style
Romantic style
1
Rhythm
Tempo rubato
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Octaves
1
Technique
Fast passages
1
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