Repertoire › Alla Polacca › What to play next
What to play after Alla Polacca ?
August Wilhelmj · difficulty 56/100

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
Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, op. 25: I. Allegro moderato
Karl Goldmark
61/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Legato d'archet — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
La notte, for violin and piano, S.377a
Franz Liszt
60/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Vibrato — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Agada, Op.46
Joseph Achron
60/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Legato d'archet and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Gentle
Song-Poem, ‘In Honour of an Ashugh’, for violin and piano
Aram Khachaturian
62/100 +6 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Vibrato — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Recitativo e arioso, for violin and piano
Witold Lutoslawski
59/100 +3 pts 5-10 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Vibrato — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
El Agiaco Cubano
Ole Bull
65/100 +9 pts 12-24 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced
Ballad for Violin and Piano
Arnold Bax
64/100 +8 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Voix chantante — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Violin Sonata no. 5 in F major, op. 24, "Spring"
Ludwig van Beethoven
64/100 +8 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Balanced
Ruralia Hungarica, for violin and piano, op. 32c
Ernst von Dohnányi
70/100 +14 pts 14-28 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Rythmes pointés and Legato d'archet — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 2 in E minor, op. 108
Gabriel Fauré
74/100 +18 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: Connaissance des formes and Legato d'archet — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Violin Sonata no. 1 in D minor, op. 75
Camille Saint-Saëns
71/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer moderate 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: Legato d'archet and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Challenge
Transition from the Andante to the Rondo (Wolfgang Schneiderhan)
Eugene Ysaÿe
71/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Passages rapides and Vibrato — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Violin Sonata no. 6 in G major, BWV.1019
Johann Sebastian Bach
55/100 -1 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 Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Violin Sonata no. 23 in D major, K.306
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
54/100 -2 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 Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Same level
Violin Sonata no. 2 in G major, op. 13
Edvard Grieg
58/100 +2 pts 4-6 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: Legato d'archet and Connaissance des formes — 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.