Repertoire › Variations on a Theme by Paganini, op. 35 › What to play next
What to play after Variations on a Theme by Paganini, op. 35 ?
Johannes Brahms · difficulty 87/100

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
Piano Sonata no. 2 in B flat minor, op. 36
Sergei Rachmaninoff
91/100 +4 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Sonata no. 3 in B minor, op. 58
Frédéric Chopin
91/100 +4 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Piano Sonata no. 10 in C, op. 70, "Trill"
Alexander Scriabin
93/100 +6 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Ornements romantiques and Connaissance des formes — ornaments must be secure before the piece goes up to tempo, otherwise they break the line instead of decorating it.
Gentle
Paganini: Variation no. 18 Andante cantabile
Sergei Rachmaninoff
90/100 +3 pts 9-18 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Passages rapides — 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
Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale Ad nos, ad salutarem undam, S.624, R.314
Franz Liszt
98/100 +11 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Piano Sonata no. 29 in B flat major, op. 106, "Hammerklavier"
Ludwig van Beethoven
95/100 +8 pts 18-36 weeks
close skills moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale 'Ad nos, ad salutarem undam', S.259
Franz Liszt
95/100 +8 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV.565
Ferruccio Busoni
95/100 +8 pts 18-36 weeks
partial transfer moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8). New compared with the previous piece: Staccato and Analyse harmonique — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

No suggestion yet.

Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Piano Sonata no. 3 in F minor, op. 5
Johannes Brahms
88/100 +1 pts 6-9 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Indépendance des mains and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Etudes-tableaux, op. 39
Sergei Rachmaninoff
88/100 +2 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Doubles notes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Polonaise no. 6 in A flat major, op. 53, "Heroic"
Frédéric Chopin
84/100 -3 pts 6-9 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Rythmes pointés and Octaves — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.
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.