Repertoire › Fugues, op. 72 › What to play next
What to play after Fugues, op. 72 ?
Robert Schumann · difficulty 69/100

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
Fantasia and Fugue in D minor, op. 135b
Max Reger
75/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Fugue in C
Felix Mendelssohn
75/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Symphonic Fantasia and Fugue, op. 57, "Inferno"
Max Reger
75/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Fuga à 4 in G minor, EG184e
Edvard Grieg
75/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Fugues on B-A-C-H, op. 60
Robert Schumann
76/100 +7 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk fair confidence
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Polyphonie à deux voix and Analyse harmonique — 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
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor, op. 127
Max Reger
80/100 +11 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: 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.
Balanced
Fugue in E minor
Felix Mendelssohn
80/100 +11 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: 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.
Balanced
Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, op. 35, "Eroica Variations"
Ludwig van Beethoven
82/100 +12 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: 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.
Balanced
Fugue in D minor
Sergei Rachmaninoff
83/100 +14 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: 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Fugue in A minor, KKIVc/2
Frédéric Chopin
88/100 +19 pts 32-64 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Fantasia and Fugue on B-A-C-H, op. 46
Max Reger
88/100 +19 pts 32-64 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: 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
Prélude, choral et fugue, M.21
César Franck
88/100 +19 pts 32-64 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: 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.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Variations on the name Abegg, op. 1
Robert Schumann
69/100 same level 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Ornements romantiques — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Sinfonia for Piano in A
Gaetano Donizetti
70/100 +1 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style baroque and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Klavierstücke, op. 32
Robert Schumann
71/100 +1 pts 5-8 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Phrasé — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
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.