Repertoire › Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 in E-flat major › What to play next
What to play after Intermezzo Op.117 No.1 in E-flat major ?
Johannes Brahms · difficulty 68/100

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
Intermezzo in E major Op.116 No.4
Johannes Brahms
73/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Klavierstücke, op. 119
Johannes Brahms
73/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante and Indépendance des mains — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Suite bergamasque (Clair de lune)
Claude Debussy
73/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Berceuse, op. 57
Frédéric Chopin
73/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Voix chantante — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Gentle
Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann
Johannes Brahms
72/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Doigté complexe and Analyse harmonique — settle and write the fingering in at first reading: changing it later costs weeks.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Barcarolle in F sharp major, op. 60
Frédéric Chopin
81/100 +13 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: Balance mains — what matters is quality of attack and evenness of tone, not speed.
Balanced
Rhapsody in B minor Op.79 No.1
Johannes Brahms
78/100 +9 pts 14-28 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Klavierstück op. 33b
Arnold Schoenberg
81/100 +13 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 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Goldberg Variations, BWV.988
Johann Sebastian Bach
87/100 +18 pts 32-64 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. New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Variations on a Theme by Paganini, op. 35
Johannes Brahms
87/100 +18 pts 32-64 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. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Trilles — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Variations on a Theme by Handel Op.24
Johannes Brahms
84/100 +16 pts 32-64 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. New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Demi-pédale — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Ballades, op. 10
Johannes Brahms
68/100 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: Passages rapides and Voix chantante — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23
Frédéric Chopin
71/100 +2 pts 5-8 weeks
new reflexes 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 Octaves — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
Fantasias, op. 116
Johannes Brahms
66/100 -2 pts 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: Polyphonie à deux voix and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
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.