Blanche Selva was a prominent French pianist who composed this atmospheric work filled with shimmering sonorities. It reflects the influence of Impressionist harmonic exploration.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: careful pedaling — clarity depends on the foot as much as the fingers; several simultaneous layers, each needing its own dynamic level; and chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others.
The technical challenge involves layering multiple voices while utilizing pedaling to capture the shimmering colors.
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.
Cloches au soleil is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 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 Cloches au soleil lasts about 5 minutes.
Cloches au soleil 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 Cloches dans la brume by Blanche Selva, Berceuse by Selim Palmgren, Calme des jardins by Alice Sauvrezis — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.