Repertoire › Variations on a Theme by Handel Op.24 › What to play next
What to play after Variations on a Theme by Handel Op.24 ?
Johannes Brahms · difficulty 84/100

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
Paganini: Variation no. 18 Andante cantabile
Sergei Rachmaninoff
90/100 +6 pts 9-18 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, op. 120
Ludwig van Beethoven
88/100 +4 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Variations on a Bach motive: Weinen, Klagen, S.180
Franz Liszt
88/100 +4 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Indépendance des mains — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Piano Sonata no. 3 in F minor, op. 5
Johannes Brahms
88/100 +4 pts 8-16 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Connaissance des formes — 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
Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major, op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
Ludwig van Beethoven
95/100 +11 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Variations and Toccata on 'Aurora lucis rutilat', op. 52
Alberto Ginastera
95/100 +11 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Sonata in G major, K.449, L.444
Domenico Scarlatti
96/100 +12 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 32 in C minor, op. 111
Ludwig van Beethoven
92/100 +8 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — 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
Sonata in G major, K.471, L.82
Domenico Scarlatti
100/100 +16 pts 40-80 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Ab irato, S.143, "The Perfect Etude"
Franz Liszt
100/100 +16 pts 40-80 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Gammes et arpèges and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
A.r.
Iannis Xenakis
100/100 +16 pts 40-80 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Technique générale — 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
Piano Sonata no. 2 in F sharp minor, op. 2
Johannes Brahms
82/100 -2 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Sonata Op.53 (Waldstein)
Ludwig van Beethoven
82/100 -2 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Trilles and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Variations on a Theme by Paganini, op. 35
Johannes Brahms
87/100 +2 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Next piece in the same collection, Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): the order its editor chose, a progression already tested. What changes is the skill in play: Voix chantante and Trilles — 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.