What to play after Baal Shem: 3 Pictures of Hassidic life, for violin and piano ?
Ernest Bloch · difficulty 74/100

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
Violin Sonata
William Walton
79/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Positions hautes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 1
Ernest Bloch
78/100 +4 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 2, "Poème mystique"
Ernest Bloch
77/100 +3 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 2 in D major, op. 94bis
Sergei Prokofiev
77/100 +3 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Rythme d'archet complexe — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Violin Sonata no. 4
George Antheil
77/100 +3 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Connaissance des formes and Positions hautes — 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
Violin Concerto
Ernest Bloch
85/100 +11 pts 16-32 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up: this piece moves you into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Style moderne et contemporain — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced
Fantasy for Violin and Piano, op. 47
Arnold Schoenberg
85/100 +11 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: Positions hautes and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.
Balanced
Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35
Erich Wolfgang Korngold
85/100 +11 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: Ornements romantiques and Style moderne et contemporain — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Balanced
Violin Sonata no. 1 in C sharp minor, op. 21, BB84, Sz.75
Béla Bartók
83/100 +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 Rythme d'archet complexe — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

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.