Que jouer après Cello Concerto, op. 3 ?

Choose your level of commitment: consolidate, move up a tier or prepare a challenge. The top-ranked cards combine difficulty, risk, shared skills and confidence.

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Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle

Cello Concerto in C major, op. 37

Erich Wolfgang Korngold

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Gentle

Cello Concerto

Arnold Bax

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Gentle

Cello Concerto

Arnold Schoenberg

70/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Trilles and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Gentle

Variations on a Slovak Folksong, for cello and piano, H.378

Bohuslav Martinů

68/100 +3 pts 6-12 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Vibrato (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Gentle

Cello Concerto

William Walton

72/100 +7 pts 7-14 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced

Cello Concerto

Jacques Ibert

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Balanced

Cello Concerto, in A minor, op. 22

Samuel Barber

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Balanced

Cello Concerto no. 2, A.516

Heitor Villa-Lobos

75/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Balanced

Concerto for cello and orchestra in B minor

Ernest Moeran

78/100 +13 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Croisements de mains and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge

Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, op. 107

Dmitri Shostakovich

82/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks

close skills high risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Challenge

Solo Cello Suite no. 3, op. 87

Benjamin Britten

81/100 +16 pts 32-64 weeks

partial transfer high risk to confirm

An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.

Challenge

Solo Cello Suite no. 2, op. 80

Benjamin Britten

80/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level

Sonata Movement, for cello and piano

Zoltán Kodály

66/100 +1 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Legato d'archet (violoncelle) — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.

Same level

Ballade for Cello and Piano in C minor, op. 15

Sergei Prokofiev

67/100 +2 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Octaves and Voix chantante — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Same level

Cello Sonata, op. 25, no. 3

Paul Hindemith

62/100 -3 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Legato d'archet (violoncelle) — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.

Progressions computed from difficulty, skill overlap and style between works. A What do we play next? recommendation should remain a pedagogical starting point, not an automatic prescription.