Night on the Balcony, for harpsichord
Piano solo ~8 min
In brief

The piece gives off a chiaroscuro, observational mood, built from repeated cells that slide like moving shadows on the harpsichord. You will mainly face challenges in Technique générale (2.5/5), which here requires very precise finger control to articulate short figures cleanly on a percussive, non-sustaining keyboard, and in Rythme général (2.5/5), which demands maintaining a steady pulse and razor‑sharp coordination of repeated motifs so the overall gesture does not warp. The period is recorded as unknown; within the composer's catalogue it is a solo keyboard piece that falls among his studies of repetitive material. I do not give a reference interpretation because I am not certain of a widely recognized recording for this specific work.

MusicCoach difficulty
45/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 33–57/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
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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Relative difficulty
46%
Among Philip Glass
42%
Era
Genre
Estimated skills
Rhythm
General rhythm
1
Technique
General technique
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