This Divertissement is a salon-style character piece typical of 19th-century domestic piano repertoire. It features lighthearted melodic lines supported by balanced, traditional accompaniment patterns.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; fine finger independence within the hand; and Alberti-bass accompaniment kept quiet and even under the melody.
Beyond that, expect fast passage work that stays light and even at tempo.
Maintain a crisp, light articulation throughout to prevent the faster passages from sounding muddy.
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.
Divertissement No.1 (Op.188a) is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
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 Divertissement No.1 (Op.188a) lasts about 3 minutes.
Divertissement No.1 (Op.188a) 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 Divertissement No.2 by Robert Alexander, Dedication by Robert Alexander, The Entertainer by Scott Joplin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.