Repertoire › Apparition de l'église éternelle, I/8 › What to play next
What to play after Apparition de l'église éternelle, I/8 ?
Olivier Messiaen · difficulty 55/100

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
Fantaisie burlesque, I/11
Olivier Messiaen
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 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.
Gentle
Les Ritournelles, 6 pieces, H.227
Bohuslav Martinů
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 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.
Gentle
Klavierstück in D
Percy Grainger
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
3 Piezas, op. 6
Alberto Ginastera
60/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Le banquet céleste, I/1
Olivier Messiaen
65/100 +10 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 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
Rondeau, I/24
Olivier Messiaen
65/100 +10 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
2 Pieces, op. 33
Arnold Schoenberg
65/100 +10 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Style moderne et contemporain — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Balanced
The Princess' Rose Garden
Arnold Bax
67/100 +12 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — 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. 3 in A minor, op. 28, "From Old Notebooks"
Sergei Prokofiev
72/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Le Corps glorieux, 7 brief visions, I/20
Olivier Messiaen
70/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Offrande au Saint-Sacrement
Olivier Messiaen
70/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
La Fauvette des jardins, I/50
Olivier Messiaen
55/100 same level 4-6 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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.
Same level
Dieu parmi nous
Olivier Messiaen
55/100 same level 4-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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.
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.