A charming, salon-style character piece by Richard Eilenberg typical of late 19th-century light piano literature. It relies on straightforward phrasing and lighthearted melodic themes.
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 continuous sixteenth-note figuration that must ripple, not chatter.
Focus on maintaining a clean, crisp articulation throughout the running melodic 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.
Es war einmal (Op.137) is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
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 Es war einmal (Op.137) lasts about 2 minutes.
Es war einmal (Op.137) 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 Erste Herzklopfen by Richard Eilenberg, Die Nachtigall und die Frösche by Richard Eilenberg, Die Mühle im Schwarzwald by Richard Eilenberg — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.