A virtuoso parlor piece designed to showcase a student's agility in running passages. The name reflects the light, cascading staccato patterns used throughout.
At Henle 4 this is an intermediate piece that expects secure technique and real attention to phrasing. The main demands: continuous sixteenth-note figuration that must ripple, not chatter; precise articulation — the difference between crisp and blurred is the piece; and fine finger independence within the hand.
Focus on evenness and lightness in the rapid, dripping sixteenth-note figures.
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.
Dripping Fountain (Op.96) is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 5.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 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 Dripping Fountain (Op.96) lasts about 4 minutes.
Dripping Fountain (Op.96) 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 Dancing Fairies by Thomas Philando Ryder, Danse des demons by Thomas Philando Ryder, Alexander's Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.