Richard Stöhr's Op. 135c reflects a late-Romantic harmonic language infused with modernist contrapuntal density. It is a substantial work demanding significant structural awareness.
At Henle 6 this is an advanced piece that assumes fluent technique and rewards mature interpretation. The main demands: independent voices that must each sing on their own line; big chords that need weight without harshness; and polyrhythms that have to lock together without sounding mechanical.
At roughly 8 minutes, stamina and memory become part of the challenge — plan practice in sections.
Mastering the dense chordal textures while maintaining a clear melodic line is essential.
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 Suite (Op.135c) is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 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 Suite (Op.135c) lasts about 8 minutes.
Dance Suite (Op.135c) 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 Suite by Richard Stöhr, Ballet Suite for Piano by Richard Stöhr, Partita No. 2 in C minor by Johann Sebastian Bach — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.