Mélodie for cello and orchestra in D major, op. 20, no. 1
Romantic Cello and Orchestra
In brief

Glazunov's Mélodie offers a lyrical, elegiac line—mostly calm and singing but punctuated by small expressive inflections that call for a sustained, attentive legato rather than flashy virtuosity. You will specifically face Tempo rubato (3.1/5) and Phrasing (2.5/5): the rubato here means small, controlled deviations from strict pulse to shape breaths without losing orchestral momentum, and the phrasing requires subtle gestures from the right hand and supportive left-hand shifts to sculpt phrases while maintaining tone color and continuity. The piece belongs to the Romantic period and fits among Glazunov's earlier lyrical works for soloist and orchestra before his larger-scale symphonic output. I do not list a reference recording because I am not fully certain of a definitive interpretation for this exact piece.

MusicCoach difficulty
30/100
Elementary
Likely range : 18–42/100
Confidence : 35% · to confirm
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 3

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
12%
Among Alexander Glazunov
100%
Era Romantic
Genre
Estimated skills
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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