A well-loved movement from Schubert, this Allegretto is characterized by its infectious energy and clear, diatonic melodies. Its musical discourse is both direct and delightfully engaging.
Achieving crisp articulation and agile fingerwork in the rapid scalar passages is paramount.
Allegretto in C (D.346) is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
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 Allegretto in C (D.346) lasts about 4 minutes.
Allegretto in C (D.346) is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.