Repertoire › Monodie, I/45a › What to play next
What to play after Monodie, I/45a ?
Olivier Messiaen · difficulty 58/100

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
La Nativité du Seigneur, 9 meditations, I/14
Olivier Messiaen
65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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.
Gentle
3 Preludes
George Gershwin
61/100 +3 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (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.
Gentle
20 Regards sur l'enfant Jésus, I/27
Olivier Messiaen
65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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.
Gentle
In einer Nacht, 14 short pieces, op. 15
Paul Hindemith
65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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.
Gentle
Feuillets d'album, FP68
Francis Poulenc
65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that 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 step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Offrande au Saint-Sacrement
Olivier Messiaen
70/100 +12 pts 14-28 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
Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4, A.264
Heitor Villa-Lobos
68/100 +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: 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.
Balanced
Catalogue d'oiseaux, I/42
Olivier Messiaen
70/100 +12 pts 14-28 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
The Alcotts
Charles Ives
67/100 +9 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: 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Cantéyodjayâ, I/30
Olivier Messiaen
75/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills 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: Passages rapides and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Pièce pour le tombeau de Paul Dukas, I/16
Olivier Messiaen
73/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills moderate 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: 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
Piano Sonata no. 7 in B flat major, op. 83
Sergei Prokofiev
79/100 +21 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Dieu parmi nous
Olivier Messiaen
55/100 -3 pts 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.
Same level
4 Études de rhythme, I/32-35
Olivier Messiaen
55/100 -3 pts 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.
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.