Repertoire › Cello Sonata › What to play next
What to play after Cello Sonata ?
Kurt Weill · difficulty 62/100

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
Sonata Movement, for cello and piano
Zoltán Kodály
66/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation (violoncelle) and Vibrato (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Cello Sonata
Anton Webern
68/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 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.
Gentle
Cello Sonata, FP143
Francis Poulenc
68/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Connaissance des formes — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Sonata for Cello and Piano, op. 4
Zoltán Kodály
66/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation (violoncelle) and Vibrato (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Sonata, for cello and piano in D minor, H.32
Arthur Honegger
65/100 +3 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation (violoncelle) and Style moderne et contemporain — 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
Legend-Sonata, for cello and piano in F sharp minor
Arnold Bax
73/100 +11 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Cello Sonata in E flat major
Arnold Bax
72/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Cello Sonata in C major, op. 65: IV. Marcia
Benjamin Britten
72/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Cello Sonata, op. 6
Samuel Barber
76/100 +14 pts 14-28 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Intonation (violoncelle) and Connaissance des formes — 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
Cello Sonata, op. 49
Alberto Ginastera
79/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Cello Sonata, op. 40
Dmitri Shostakovich
79/100 +17 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Doigté complexe — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Cello Sonata in C major, op. 119
Sergei Prokofiev
77/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Doigté complexe — 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
Variations on a Theme by Rossini, for cello and piano, op. 290
Bohuslav Martinů
63/100 +1 pts 4-7 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Capriccio, for cello and piano, A.91
Heitor Villa-Lobos
60/100 -2 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Passages rapides 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 Suite no. 1, op. 72: 2. Lamento. Lento rubato
Benjamin Britten
65/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Position du pouce and Style baroque — 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.