A rarely performed character piece by Louis Lacombe that utilizes descriptive musical gestures. Its charm lies in the quick, light-hearted rhythmic figures.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: continuous sixteenth-note figuration that must ripple, not chatter; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own.
Maintain steady, crisp rhythmic movement in the sixteenth-note passages.
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.
Conseil tenu par les rats is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
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 Conseil tenu par les rats lasts about 3 minutes.
Conseil tenu par les rats 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 Berceuse by Louis Lacombe, 12 Variations in G on 'La Bérgere Célimène' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bolero by César Antonovich Cui — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.