Ernesto Nazareth's 'Alerta!' is a vibrant choro, a Brazilian genre blending European dance forms with African rhythms, known for its energetic character and virtuosic demands.
Requires excellent finger dexterity and a strong sense of rhythmic syncopation.
Alerta! is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
A typical performance of Alerta! lasts about 3 minutes.
Alerta! is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.