This Northern German organ-school fantasy features intricate ornamentation and highly developed polyphonic lines adapted for the keyboard. It is a representative example of 17th-century stylus phantasticus.
At Henle 7 this is a late-advanced work — the technical demands are serious and sustained. The main demands: independent voices that must each sing on their own line; ornaments that need to sound effortless, not squeezed in; and chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others.
Beyond that, expect continuous sixteenth-note figuration that must ripple, not chatter.
The challenge is to apply historically informed ornamentation fluidly within the contrapuntal framework.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Chorale Fantasy 'In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr' is rated Henle level 7 of 9 — late advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grade 8 and above. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 7 — meaning you can already play level 6–7 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 Chorale Fantasy 'In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr' lasts about 7 minutes.
Chorale Fantasy 'In dich hab ich gehoffet, Herr' 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 Chorale Prelude 'Nun bitten wir den heiligen Geist' by Heinrich Scheidemann, Berceuse by Dora Pejačević, Ballada by José Vianna da Motta — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.