Repertoire › Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort, nocturne, S.203 › What to play next
What to play after Schlaflos, Frage und Antwort, nocturne, S.203 ?
Franz Liszt · difficulty 78/100

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
Les adieux, rêverie, from 'Romeo et Juliette', S.409, R.169
Franz Liszt
83/100 +5 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Bach: Prelude, Gavotte, and Gigue from Partita in E for Solo Violin, TN iii/1
Sergei Rachmaninoff
83/100 +5 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). 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.
Gentle
Les sabéennes, Berceuse from 'The Queen of Sheba', S.408, R.167
Franz Liszt
82/100 +4 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Two Lieder, S.494-495
Franz Liszt
88/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Balanced
Réminiscences de 'Lucrezia Borgia', S.400, R.154
Franz Liszt
90/100 +12 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Doubles notes and Voix chantante — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Prélude, choral et fugue, M.21
César Franck
88/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Paganini: Variation no. 18 Andante cantabile
Sergei Rachmaninoff
90/100 +12 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major, op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
Ludwig van Beethoven
95/100 +17 pts 36-72 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: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H, S.529
Franz Liszt
94/100 +16 pts 36-72 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Mephisto Waltz no. 4, S.216a, R.60c, "Bagatelle sans tonalité"
Franz Liszt
93/100 +15 pts 36-72 weeks
partial transfer moderate 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: Trilles and Rythmes pointés — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Prelude and Fugue on the motive B-A-C-H, S.260i
Franz Liszt
78/100 same level 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
8 Préludes et Harmonies poétiques et religieuses, S.171d
Franz Liszt
80/100 +2 pts 6-9 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not 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.