A sophisticated example of the French post-Romantic concert waltz, balancing salon elegance with technical complexity. The writing is characterized by lush harmonies and a sweeping, expansive melodic design.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: a waltz lilt that needs charm and a flexible left hand; rubato that must breathe naturally without losing the pulse; and wide stretches that reward larger hands and clever redistribution.
Beyond that, expect chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others, and a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment.
Master the large-span left-hand leaps while maintaining a flexible, expressive rubato in the melody.
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.
Deuxième valse (Op.14) is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
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 Deuxième valse (Op.14) lasts about 6 minutes.
Deuxième valse (Op.14) 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 Deuxième valse pour piano by Léon Boëllmann, Berceuse by Léon Boëllmann, 16 Waltzes by Johannes Brahms — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.