Repertoire › Une Larme, for cello and piano › What to play next
What to play after Une Larme, for cello and piano ?
Modest Mussorgsky · difficulty 38/100

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
Allegretto, for cello and piano
Edvard Grieg
43/100 +5 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Vibrato (violoncelle) — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Lied ohne Worte, for cello and piano, op. 109
Felix Mendelssohn
42/100 +4 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Voix chantante — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Romance no. 1 for Cello and Orchestra in D minor, op. 243
Johann Strauss Jr
42/100 +4 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). 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
Waltz, for cello and piano, op. 48
Reinhold Glière
45/100 +7 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Détaché (violoncelle) — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Gentle
Romance, for cello and piano, op. 69
Gabriel Fauré
42/100 +3 pts 4-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: 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.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Lied in F minor, for cello and piano
Sergei Rachmaninoff
49/100 +11 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). 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
Allegro appassionato in B minor, for cello and piano, op. 43
Camille Saint-Saëns
49/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Vibrato (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Allegretto Moderato, for cello and piano
Gabriel Fauré
48/100 +10 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante and Legato d'archet (violoncelle) — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Balanced
Papillon, for cello and piano, op. 77
Gabriel Fauré
52/100 +14 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Cello Sonata no. 1 in C minor, op. 32
Camille Saint-Saëns
58/100 +19 pts 20-40 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — 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
Cello Sonata no. 1, op. 45
Felix Mendelssohn
60/100 +21 pts 20-40 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Intonation (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Cello Sonata no. 1 in F major, op. 5 no. 1
Ludwig van Beethoven
60/100 +22 pts 24-48 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — 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
Lied for Cello and Orchestra, op. 19
Vincent d'Indy
40/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Mémorisation — memorise in sections and on harmonic landmarks, never by restarting from the top.
Same level
Ave Maria, for cello and orchestra, op. 61
Max Bruch
40/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Caractère et style — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Serenade, for cello and orchestra, op. 37
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
40/100 +2 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Pédale de sustain — the pedal is set by ear, note by note: misjudged, it blurs the harmony instead of joining it.
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.