This rare prelude by Paul Hastings Allen occupies the space between late Romanticism and early 20th-century lyricism. Its distinctiveness arises from its use of chromatic harmonic shifts within a concise, narrative structure.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment; chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others; and rubato that must breathe naturally without losing the pulse.
Prioritize seamless voicing between the melodic lines and the atmospheric harmonic background.
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.
Concert Prelude is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 6.
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 Concert Prelude lasts about 3 minutes.
Concert Prelude 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 Intermezzo in A major, No. 2 by Johannes Brahms, Blue Passion by Carlotta Ferrari, Albumblatt by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.