Bäckahästen is a programmatic work by the Swedish composer Kurt Atterberg inspired by the mythical water-horse of folklore. It is distinct for its thick, late-Romantic textures fused with a Nordic harmonic language.
The primary challenge lies in balancing the dense, atmospheric textures while maintaining the rhythmic drive of the narrative.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Bäckahästen (Op.24) is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 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 Bäckahästen (Op.24) lasts about 5 minutes.
Bäckahästen (Op.24) 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 Ballad Without Words by Kurt Atterberg, 'The King of the Jews' - Incidental Music by Alexander Glazunov, Alleluia by Charles-Valentin Alkan — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.