A character piece designed to evoke the lively, jerky movements of midgets through staccato figures and quick register shifts. It represents the lighthearted salon repertoire popular during the turn of the century.
At Henle 2 this is a beginner-level piece, where steady coordination between the hands is the main hurdle. The main demands: fast passage work that stays light and even at tempo; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and fine finger independence within the hand.
The primary challenge is achieving consistent, crisp staccato across both hands at a fast tempo.
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.
Dance of the Midgets is rated Henle level 2 of 9 — beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 2–3. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 2 — meaning you can already play level 1–2 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 Dance of the Midgets lasts about 2 minutes.
Dance of the Midgets 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 Dance of the butterflies by Martin Greenwald, Bluin' the Blues by Henry Ragas, Britta Polka by Hans Christian Lumbye — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.