Harrington’s Blues Intermezzo is a sophisticated study in neo-classical style infused with mid-century jazz elements. It is distinct for its balanced, contrapuntal lines that treat blues melodies with rigorous formal discipline.
Develop clear finger independence to maintain the separation between the primary voices.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Blues Intermezzo 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 Blues Intermezzo lasts about 4 minutes.
Blues Intermezzo 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 Blues Intermezzo for Piano by Jeffrey Michael Harrington, BlueStrider for Piano by Jeffrey Michael Harrington, Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.