A delicate salon piece by Polish composer Napoleon Orda, reflecting the nationalistic and lyrical tendencies of the Romantic era. It is distinctive for its sweeping melodic lines and gentle harmonic shifts.
Use careful rubato to shape the long melodic phrases without distorting the underlying pulse.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Belida et Metidjah (Op.9) is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
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 Belida et Metidjah (Op.9) lasts about 4 minutes.
Belida et Metidjah (Op.9) 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 Belida et Metidjah by Napoleon Orda, 'O sole mio by Eduardo Di Capua, Belle of the Ball by Leroy Anderson — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.