A character piece that evokes nautical or harbor imagery through rolling 6/8 patterns. The textures are consistent, providing a smooth, undulating soundscape.
Pedaling must be precise to keep the 6/8 arpeggios from blurring the harmonic changes.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Au port is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 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 Au port lasts about 3 minutes.
Au port is available as free public-domain sheet music on IMSLP — the score is linked directly from this page.
Pieces at a comparable difficulty and character include Au désert! by Étienne Rey, Berceuse by Armas Järnefelt, By Moonlight by Franz Bendel — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.