A delicate and obscure salon piece by the German composer Fidelis Zitterbart Jr. written in the traditional 6/8 barcarolle meter. Its distinct quality lies in the minor-mode pathos set against a modest, transparent texture.
Students must focus on producing a refined, bell-like tone quality to sustain interest through the simple harmonic progression.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Barcarole No.3 in A minor is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 6.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 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 Barcarole No.3 in A minor lasts about 4 minutes.
Barcarole No.3 in A minor 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 Barcarole No.2 in G minor by Fidelis Zitterbart Jr., Barcarole sentimentale in D minor by Fidelis Zitterbart Jr., Barcarole pathétique in F minor by Fidelis Zitterbart Jr. — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.