Awaking of Samson is a parlor-style character piece by the prolific light-music composer Eduard Holst. It is characterized by its dramatic shifts in dynamic texture and typical late-19th-century salon bravura.
The primary challenge is maintaining a consistent lyrical tone while navigating the wide-span arpeggiated accompaniment.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Awaking of Samson is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
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 Awaking of Samson lasts about 4 minutes.
Awaking of Samson 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 Bliss Divine by Eduard Holst, American Cavalry by Eduard Holst, Beautiful Evening Star by Eduard Holst — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.