Fugue on a theme by Albinoni in C major, BWV.946
Baroque Fugue Piano solo ~4 min
In brief

This fugue is marked by a crystalline contrapuntal texture and constant voice motion that calls for crisp articulation and steady rhythmic poise rather than expansive, lyrical phrasing. The “Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus (4.4/5)” will require you to distribute the lines cleanly between the hands, balance independent voices, and manage overlaps so each subject remains clear; the “Analyse harmonique (4.4/5)” means anticipating progressions and modulations to choose fingerings and releases that support the voice-leading. The piece belongs to Bach’s Baroque keyboard repertoire and sits within his contrapuntal works used for study and practice of fugal technique. I do not provide a reference interpretation here because I am not fully certain of a specific, widely recognized recording for this exact work.

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  • Play — Fugue on a theme by Tomaso Albinoni in C Major, BWV 946 - Arr. for Accordion · Johann Sebastian Bach, Janne Rättyä (the player loads on click)

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MusicCoach difficulty
61/100
Intermediate
Likely range : 40–82/100
Confidence : 58% · fair confidence
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedVirtuoso
Exam grade
About grade 6 to 7

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.
MusicCoach consensus
uncertain
Relative difficulty
77%
Among Johann Sebastian Bach
70%
Era Baroque
44%
Genre
Estimated skills
Theory
Harmonic analysis
1
Technique
Three-or-more-voice polyphony
2
Reading
Bass clef reading
1
Ornaments
Baroque ornaments
1
Style
Baroque style
1
Tone
Touch control
1
Technique
Hand independence
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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