Repertoire › Paean, passacaglia for piano › What to play next
What to play after Paean, passacaglia for piano ?
Arnold Bax · difficulty 75/100

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
Piano Sonata no. 3
Arnold Bax
80/100 +5 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: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Piano Sonata no. 4
Arnold Bax
80/100 +5 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: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue in E minor, op. 127
Max Reger
80/100 +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: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Chaconne with 49 variations in C major, HWV.484
George Frideric Handel
80/100 +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: Connaissance des formes and Style baroque — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Suite for Piano, op. 25
Arnold Schoenberg
82/100 +7 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 1 in F sharp minor
Arnold Bax
85/100 +10 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). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Sarabande and Chaconne from 'Almira', S.181, R.25
Franz Liszt
85/100 +10 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). 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
24 Preludes and Fugues, op. 87
Dmitri Shostakovich
88/100 +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). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Lecture avec altérations accidentelles — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Chaconne
Sofia Gubaidulina
89/100 +14 pts 16-32 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: Trilles — 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
Toccata, villancico, and fugue, op. 18
Alberto Ginastera
90/100 +15 pts 36-72 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Staccato and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Iberia Suite, B.47 Books 1-4
Isaac Albéniz
90/100 +15 pts 36-72 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Suite, op. 5
Maurice Duruflé
75/100 same level 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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
Prelude and Fugue on the Name A.L.A.I.N., op. 7
Maurice Duruflé
75/100 same level 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: 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.
Same level
Fugue in C minor, for organ
Charles Ives
75/100 same level 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Analyse harmonique and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
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.