A highly virtuosic work by American composer Jeffrey Michael Harrington that explores aggressive rhythmic drive. It uses percussive piano writing to evoke a sense of structural barbarism.
The primary challenge lies in the execution of large, percussive chords at high speeds without compromising tonal quality.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Capriccio barbaro is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
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 Capriccio barbaro lasts about 4 minutes.
Capriccio barbaro 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 Belfagor by Ottorino Respighi, Au galop by Vincent d' Indy, Allegro di bravura by Carl Maria von Weber — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.