Que jouer après Intermezzo, for cello and orchestra ?

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

Rondo in G minor, for cello and orchestra, op. 94

Antonín Dvořák

63/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Passages rapides — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Gentle

Allegro agitato in A minor, for cello and piano

Gioachino Rossini

62/100 +4 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up, staying in Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Spiccato (violoncelle) — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Gentle

Cello Concerto no. 1 in D major, op. 8

Victor Herbert

65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). The demand here is musical rather than mechanical: Tempo rubato — the pitfall is the pulse drifting as soon as the writing thickens: subdivide with the metronome.

Gentle

Cello Concerto no. 2 in E minor, op. 30

Victor Herbert

65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

Gentle

Cello Concerto no. 2 in D minor, op. 119

Camille Saint-Saëns

65/100 +7 pts 6-12 weeks

close skills low risk to confirm

A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced

Cello Concerto

Frederick Delius

70/100 +12 pts 14-28 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 — practise it slowly, separating left hand from bow: bow alone on open strings, then the fingering silently.

Balanced

Cello Concerto, op. 87

Reinhold Glière

70/100 +12 pts 14-28 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: Contrôle du toucher — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.

Balanced

Pezzo capriccioso for cello and orchestra in B minor, op. 62

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

70/100 +12 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

Balanced

Symphonie Concertante, for cello and orchestra in B minor, op. 8

George Enescu

70/100 +12 pts 14-28 weeks

close skills moderate risk to confirm

Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge

Cello Sonata in D minor, L.135

Claude Debussy

78/100 +20 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 Vibrato (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Challenge

Cello Sonata no. 4 in C major, op. 102, no. 1

Ludwig van Beethoven

73/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks

partial transfer moderate risk to confirm

Challenge

Nocturne and Scherzo for Cello and Piano, L.26

Claude Debussy

80/100 +22 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 Staccato — 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

Cello Sonata no. 1 in C minor, op. 32

Camille Saint-Saëns

58/100 same level 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: Connaissance des formes and Vibrato (violoncelle) — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.

Same level

Cello Sonata no. 1, op. 45

Felix Mendelssohn

60/100 +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: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Connaissance des formes — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.

Same level

Cello Sonata no. 2 in F major, op. 123

Camille Saint-Saëns

61/100 +3 pts 4-7 weeks

partial transfer low risk to confirm

Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. What changes is the skill in play: Vibrato (violoncelle) and Connaissance des formes — what matters is a steady sustained tone: bow speed, contact point and pressure even, before any thought of speed.

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.