Repertoire › Gnomic Variations, for piano › What to play next
What to play after Gnomic Variations, for piano ?
George Crumb · difficulty 70/100

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
Variation on a March by Bellini, B.113
Frédéric Chopin
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes and Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
12 Variations in C
Alban Berg
75/100 +5 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: Style moderne et contemporain and Connaissance des formes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
11 Variations on a harmonic formula in D
Jean Sibelius
75/100 +5 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: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Variations on a Theme by Hérold, op. 12
Frédéric Chopin
75/100 +5 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: 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
7 Variations brillantes sur un theme de Rossini, S.149, R.148
Franz Liszt
76/100 +6 pts 7-14 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes — 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
Theme and Variations in C sharp minor, op. 73
Gabriel Fauré
81/100 +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). The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Balanced
Variations sérieuses in D minor, op. 54
Felix Mendelssohn
80/100 +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: Trilles and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Semi-Simple Variations
Milton Babbitt
80/100 +10 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). New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Variation on a Waltz by Diabelli, S.147, R.26
Franz Liszt
84/100 +14 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). 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, op. 120
Ludwig van Beethoven
88/100 +18 pts 32-64 weeks
close skills high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. The skill that will carry the work: Connaissance des formes — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Variations on a Theme by Paganini, op. 35
Johannes Brahms
87/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Voix chantante and Trilles — the notes will be secure long before the musical line: work in whole phrases, singing the main voice.
Challenge
Goldberg Variations, BWV.988
Johann Sebastian Bach
87/100 +17 pts 32-64 weeks
partial transfer high risk to confirm
An ambitious leap into Great repertoire (diploma level, beyond grade 8) — only worth starting if the practice time is really there. New compared with the previous piece: Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus and Style baroque — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Partita no. 1 in B flat major, BWV.825
Johann Sebastian Bach
70/100 same level 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Ballade No.1 in G minor Op.23
Frédéric Chopin
71/100 +1 pts 5-8 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Octaves and Connaissance des formes — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Same level
Sonata in A major K.331
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
68/100 -2 pts 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Style classique and Rythmes pointés — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
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.