Repertoire › Absentia › What to play next
What to play after Absentia ?
Werner J.E. De Bleser · difficulty 48/100

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
5 Madrigal Stanzas, for violin and piano, H.297
Bohuslav Martinů
52/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Analyse harmonique and Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Improvisation, for violin and piano, op. 21
Dmitry Kabalevsky
52/100 +4 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Positions hautes and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Adagio, for violin and piano
Zoltán Kodály
54/100 +6 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Style moderne et contemporain — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Mariettas Lied zur Laute, for violin and piano
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
54/100 +6 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Style moderne et contemporain — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Gentle
Milonga en Re, tango for violin and piano
Astor Piazzolla
55/100 +7 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Style moderne et contemporain — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Le Printemps, for violin and piano, op. 18
Darius Milhaud
59/100 +11 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Coups d'archet composés and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Recitativo e arioso, for violin and piano
Witold Lutoslawski
59/100 +11 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced
Serenade, for violin and piano
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
58/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Vibrato and Style moderne et contemporain — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced
2 Pieces for Violin and Piano
Aaron Copland
58/100 +10 pts 10-20 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Coups d'archet composés 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
Violin Sonata no. 5 in F major, op. 24, "Spring"
Ludwig van Beethoven
64/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Legato d'archet and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Second transition to the theme of the Rondo (Wolfgang Schneiderhan)
Eugene Ysaÿe
64/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
new reflexes high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Souvenir d'un lieu cher, for violin and piano, op. 42
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
64/100 +16 pts 24-48 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap while staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Vibrato — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Variations for Violin and Piano G major K. 359 (374a)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
50/100 +2 pts 3-4 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 classique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Appendix: Violin Sonata (Later Viennese) B flat major K. 570
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
46/100 -2 pts 3-4 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 5 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Legato d'archet and Style classique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Violin Sonata D major op. 12,1
Ludwig van Beethoven
51/100 +3 pts 4-6 weeks
new reflexes 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: Legato d'archet and Style classique — 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.