Repertoire › Adagio, Op.2 › What to play next
What to play after Adagio, Op.2 ?
Daniel Van Goens · difficulty 29/100

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
Adieu et Revoir, Op.17
Carl Schuberth
34/100 +5 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Style romantique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Adagio
Alberto Orefici
33/100 +4 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Style romantique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Absence
Carl Kiefert
32/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Intonation (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Adagio, Op.4
Oswald Schwabe
32/100 +3 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Style romantique — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Adagio
Vittorio Gnecchi
36/100 +7 pts 3-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Intonation (violoncelle) — 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
Air for Cello
Jean Huré
42/100 +13 pts 8-16 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
L'adieu
George Alexander Osborne
37/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Intonation (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Adagio
Stephen Tyrrell
37/100 +8 pts 6-12 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Elementary (around grade 4 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Intonation (violoncelle) — 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
Suite C major BWV 1009
Eugene Ysaÿe
47/100 +18 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Suite d minor BWV 1008
Eugene Ysaÿe
47/100 +18 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Polyphonie à deux voix — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Allegro appassionato in B minor, for cello and piano, op. 43
Camille Saint-Saëns
49/100 +20 pts 16-32 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Passages rapides — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
The Maiden and the Frog, folk song for cello and piano
Percy Grainger
28/100 -1 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style moderne et contemporain and Intonation (violoncelle) — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Minuetto in C major, for cello and piano
Franz Joseph Haydn
27/100 -2 pts 1-2 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Elementary (around grade 3 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Connaissance des formes and Style classique — 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.