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What to play after 4 Movements, for 2 pianos ?
Philip Glass · 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
Sites auriculaires, for 2 pianos
Maurice Ravel
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). The skill that will carry the work: Indépendance des mains — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Sonata movement for 2 pianos, 8 hands in E minor, JB 1:47
Bedrich Smetana
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
new reflexes 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 Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Suite no. 2 for 2 Pianos, op. 17
Sergei Rachmaninoff
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Gentle
Sonata for 2 Pianos
Igor Stravinsky
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
new reflexes 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 Style moderne et contemporain — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Gentle
Scaramouche: Suite for 2 Pianos, op. 165b
Darius Milhaud
75/100 +5 pts 7-14 weeks
new reflexes low risk to confirm
A short step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Balanced step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
Ce qu'on entend sur la montagne, for 2 pianos, S. 635, "Bergsymphonie"
Franz Liszt
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: Passages rapides — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Structures, Book 2, for 2 pianos
Pierre Boulez
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes 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 — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Über-Schrift, for 2 pianos
Wolfgang Rihm
80/100 +10 pts 16-32 weeks
new reflexes 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: Passages rapides and Demi-pédale — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Concertino for 2 Pianos, op. 94
Dmitri Shostakovich
78/100 +8 pts 14-28 weeks
new reflexes moderate risk to confirm
A real step up, staying in Advanced (around grade 8 ABRSM/RCM). New compared with the previous piece: Style moderne et contemporain and Polyphonie à trois voix ou plus — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Suite no. 1 for 2 pianos in G minor, op. 5, "Fantaisie-tableaux"
Sergei Rachmaninoff
90/100 +20 pts 36-72 weeks
new reflexes 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Challenge
Piano Concerto no. 2 in A major, for 2 pianos, S.651
Franz Liszt
85/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Passages rapides and Ornements romantiques — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Variations on a Theme of Beethoven in E flat major, for 2 pianos, op. 35
Camille Saint-Saëns
85/100 +15 pts 32-64 weeks
new reflexes moderate 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: Connaissance des formes — 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.

Same level
L'Embarquement pour Cythère, for 2 pianos, FP150
Francis Poulenc
70/100 same level 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: Style moderne et contemporain and Indépendance des mains — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
Hardanger, for 2 pianos
Arnold Bax
70/100 same level 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: Style moderne et contemporain and Doubles notes — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level
The Warriors, for 2 pianos, 6 hands with optional brass ensemble
Percy Grainger
70/100 same level 5-8 weeks
new reflexes 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 moderne et contemporain and Indépendance des mains — 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.