Repertoire › Fantasy on Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess,' for 2 pianos › What to play next
What to play after Fantasy on Gershwin's 'Porgy and Bess,' for 2 pianos ?
Percy Grainger · difficulty 60/100

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
Green Bushes, passacaglia for 2 pianos, 6 hands
Percy Grainger
65/100 +5 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 skill that will carry the work: 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.
Gentle
Random Round, for 2 pianos, 11 hands
Percy Grainger
65/100 +5 pts 6-12 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
A short step up — but it is the one that moves you into Advanced (around grade 7 ABRSM/RCM). 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.
Gentle
Red Autumn, for 2 pianos
Arnold Bax
65/100 +5 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: Croisements de mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
Lundú, for 2 pianos
Francisco Mignone
65/100 +5 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: Polyphonie à deux voix and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Gentle
The Devil That Tempted St. Anthony, for 2 pianos
Arnold Bax
67/100 +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 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 step

A genuine step up, without a jolt.

Balanced
3 Quarter-Tone Pieces, for 2 pianos
Charles Ives
70/100 +10 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). The skill that will carry the work: 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.
Balanced
The Warriors, for 2 pianos, 6 hands with optional brass ensemble
Percy Grainger
70/100 +10 pts 14-28 weeks
partial transfer 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: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
L'Embarquement pour Cythère, for 2 pianos, FP150
Francis Poulenc
70/100 +10 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: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Balanced
Sonata for 2 Pianos
Arnold Bax
68/100 +8 pts 12-24 weeks
partial transfer 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: 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.
Ambitious challenge

A useful leap with guided practice.

Challenge
Concertino for 2 Pianos, op. 94
Dmitri Shostakovich
78/100 +18 pts 28-56 weeks
close skills 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: Indépendance des mains and Style moderne et contemporain — practise it slowly and hands separately before any attempt at tempo: that is where tension builds up.
Challenge
Sonata for 2 Pianos
Igor Stravinsky
75/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer moderate 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 Polyphonie à deux voix — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Challenge
Scaramouche: Suite for 2 Pianos, op. 165b
Darius Milhaud
75/100 +15 pts 28-56 weeks
partial transfer moderate 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: Style baroque and Ornements baroque — the notes are not enough: articulation and ornaments follow performance conventions best checked in an urtext edition.
Same level

To widen the repertoire without raising the level.

Same level
Sonata for 2 Pianos
Paul Hindemith
60/100 same level 4-7 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 Indépendance des mains — understand the form and the harmony before memorising, or memory collapses the moment you play for someone.
Same level
2 Pieces for 2 Pianos, op. 23
Benjamin Britten
60/100 same level 4-7 weeks
partial transfer low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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.
Same level
6 Pieces, for 4 hands
Arnold Schoenberg
59/100 -1 pts 4-6 weeks
close skills low risk to confirm
Equivalent demands, still Intermediate (around grade 6 ABRSM/RCM): what changes is the ground. 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.
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.