Repertoire › Sonata for solo cello, op. 101: I. Præludio. Tempo giusto › What to play next
What to play after Sonata for solo cello, op. 101: I. Præludio. Tempo giusto ?
Vagn Holmboe · difficulty 64/100

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
Cello Sonata no. 2, H.286
Bohuslav Martinů
68/100 +5 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 +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). 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
Cello Sonata, op. 49: II. Adagio passionato
Alberto Ginastera
70/100 +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). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Doubles notes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Cello Sonata, H.20
Arthur Honegger
67/100 +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). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain and Vibrato (violoncelle) — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Cello Sonata in C major, op. 65: III. Elegia
Benjamin Britten
71/100 +7 pts 7-14 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: 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 step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Cello Sonata, op. 6: I. Allegro ma non troppo
Samuel Barber
73/100 +9 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
Sonata-Fantasy in C major, for cello solo
Aram Khachaturian
77/100 +13 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: 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
Sonata for solo cello, op. 101
Vagn Holmboe
72/100 +8 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: Position du pouce and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Sonata for solo cello, op. 101: II. Fugare. Allegro risoluto
Vagn Holmboe
72/100 +8 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: Position du pouce and Style moderne et contemporain — 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: III. Presto mormoroso
Alberto Ginastera
81/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks
partial transfer 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: Syncopes and Ornements romantiques — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Challenge
Cello Sonata, op. 49
Alberto Ginastera
79/100 +16 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer 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: Ornements romantiques and Doubles notes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Challenge
Cello Sonata, op. 40
Dmitri Shostakovich
79/100 +16 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: Doigté complexe and Connaissance des formes — settle and write in both fingering and bowings at first reading: changing them later costs weeks.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Cello Concerto, op. 120
Vagn Holmboe
62/100 -2 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: 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.
Same level
Ballade for Cello and Piano in C minor, op. 15
Sergei Prokofiev
67/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): different ground, same level. What changes is the skill in play: Octaves and Ornements romantiques — 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: 3. Serenata. Allegretto pizzicato
Benjamin Britten
67/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, right at the edge of Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): 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.
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.