Despation by Earl Richard Drehmer is a self-published character piece that utilizes heavy, block-chord textures to evoke a sense of deep gloom. It is distinctive for its unconventional harmonic progressions that depart from standard functional tonality.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: sharp dynamic and character contrasts held together in one arc; chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others; and a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment.
The player needs to balance large chords across registers without hardening the sound.
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.
Lesser-known works by the same hand, at a comparable level.
Despation is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 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 Despation lasts about 4 minutes.
Despation 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 Black and Blue by Earl Richard Drehmer, Chromatic Canon with Double-Timed Bass by Earl Richard Drehmer, Chromatic Canon with Unevenly Spaced Measures by Earl Richard Drehmer — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.