Repertoire › Violin Sonata › What to play next
What to play after Violin Sonata ?
Alfred Schnittke · difficulty 77/100

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.

Back to the full work page
Gentle step

The safest next step.

Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 9 in A major, op. 47, "Kreutzer"
Ludwig van Beethoven
80/100 +3 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: Trilles and Rythme d'archet complexe — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Violin Sonata
Wolfgang Rihm
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills 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: Changements de position and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Sonata for violin and piano
Camille Saint-Saëns
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills 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: Changements de position and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 1 in E minor, op. 29, KiV 234
Ferruccio Busoni
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills 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: Positions hautes and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Violin Sonata in E flat major, op. 18, TrV151
Richard Strauss
80/100 +3 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills 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: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Sonata for Violin Solo, BB124, Sz.117
Béla Bartók
89/100 +12 pts 16-32 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: Doubles cordes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Partita, for violin and piano
Witold Lutoslawski
85/100 +8 pts 16-32 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: Intonation and Style baroque — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Fantasy for Violin and Piano, op. 47
Arnold Schoenberg
85/100 +8 pts 16-32 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: Style moderne et contemporain and Positions hautes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
L'arbre des songes, concerto for violin and orchestra
Henri Dutilleux
85/100 +8 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Analyse harmonique — 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
Violin Sonata in F minor, "Au tombeau d'après la sonate de Pietro Antonio Locatelli"
Eugene Ysaÿe
94/100 +17 pts 36-72 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: Positions hautes and Doigté complexe — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Violin Concerto in D major, op. 77
Johannes Brahms
93/100 +16 pts 36-72 weeks
new reflexes 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. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Nocturne et Tarentelle, for violin and piano, op. 28
Karol Szymanowski
77/100 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: Voix chantante and Passages rapides — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Same level
Suite no. 1 for Solo Violin
Ernest Bloch
75/100 -2 pts 5-8 weeks
new reflexes 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: Intonation and Ornements baroque — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Suite Florentine for violin and piano
Charles-Marie Widor
74/100 -3 pts 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — 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.