Roy Agnew was an Australian composer whose impressionistic piano style echoes the textures of Debussy and Scriabin. The piece is distinct for its shifting chromatic harmonies and delicate, hazy atmospheric textures.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: careful pedaling — clarity depends on the foot as much as the fingers; chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others; and several simultaneous layers, each needing its own dynamic level.
Beyond that, expect rubato that must breathe naturally without losing the pulse.
Develop advanced pedal control to create the shifting, nebulous sound world required by the impressionistic harmonies.
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.
Drifting Mists is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
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 Drifting Mists lasts about 4 minutes.
Drifting Mists 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 Wild Men by Roy Agnew, Deirdre's Lament by Roy Agnew, Before Dawn by Roy Agnew — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.