A lighthearted early 20th-century parlor piece with a clear, straightforward structure. It serves as a charming example of the miniature character piece style popular at the time.
Ensure the crisp articulation in the right hand is balanced with the steady, lighter left hand.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Before the Lights Were Lit is rated Henle level 2 of 9 — beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 2–3. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 2 — meaning you can already play level 1–2 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 Before the Lights Were Lit lasts about 2 minutes.
Before the Lights Were Lit 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 Bach-bwv-anh-114 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Bach-anh-114 by Johann Sebastian Bach, Blumenwalzer by Léon Jessel — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.