Repertoire › Cello Sonata, op. 40 › What to play next
What to play after Cello Sonata, op. 40 ?
Dmitri Shostakovich · difficulty 79/100

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
Suites G major, d minor, a minor op. 131c
Max Reger
84/100 +5 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes 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: Polyphonie à deux voix and Style baroque — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Cello Concerto no. 2 in D major, Hob.VII:2
Franz Joseph Haydn
85/100 +6 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: Style classique and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Concerto-Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra in D minor
Aram Khachaturian
85/100 +6 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: Octaves and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85
Edward Elgar
85/100 +6 pts 8-16 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Passages rapides — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Sonata for Solo Cello
György Ligeti
86/100 +6 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: Position du pouce and Connaissance des formes — 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
Schelomo, rhapsody for cello and orchestra
Ernest Bloch
90/100 +11 pts 18-36 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: Octaves and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Tout un monde lointain, concerto for cello and orchestra
Henri Dutilleux
90/100 +11 pts 18-36 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.
Balanced
Violoncello Sonata d minor
Claude Debussy
92/100 +13 pts 18-36 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Cello Concerto in B minor, op. 104
Antonín Dvořák
92/100 +13 pts 18-36 weeks
new reflexes 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: Position du pouce and Jeu d'ensemble — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Sonata for Solo Cello, op. 8
Zoltán Kodály
95/100 +16 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: Position du pouce and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Solo Cello Suite no. 2, op. 80
Benjamin Britten
80/100 +1 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): different ground, same level. 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.
Same level
Cello Concerto no. 2 in G major, op. 126
Dmitri Shostakovich
80/100 +1 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, op. 107
Dmitri Shostakovich
82/100 +2 pts 6-9 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
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.