A salon piece typical of the mid-19th century, designed for home performance and dance accompaniment. Its texture is largely traditional, favoring clear melody and structural simplicity.
Focus on the clarity of the ornamentation and consistent touch in the right-hand passage work.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Catharine Hayes Schottisch (Op.31) is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 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 Catharine Hayes Schottisch (Op.31) lasts about 3 minutes.
Catharine Hayes Schottisch (Op.31) 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 ''America'' Schottisch by William Dressler, Beauties of the Waltz by William Dressler, 1851 Polka by William Dressler — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.