Masarnau provides a glimpse into the piano culture of the Spanish Romantic period. It is a lyrical and evocative work that balances simple harmonic beauty with restrained technical flair.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own; a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment; and careful pedaling — clarity depends on the foot as much as the fingers.
The performer must focus on managing the resonance and pedaling to prevent the texture from becoming blurred.
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.
Fantasia (Op.21) is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 6.
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 Fantasia (Op.21) lasts about 5 minutes.
Fantasia (Op.21) 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 La fille aux cheveux de lin by Claude Debussy, Consolation No. 3 by Franz Liszt, Rêverie by Claude Debussy — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.