🎹 Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2

Johan Halvorsen · Expert · 3,161 notes· Tempo 71 BPM· 5,000 views· Update 25/12/2025 · Piano
🎭 Emotional Character
Desolate and open, echoing across a vast emptiness, with wide dramatic swings in volume — patient, letting each moment settle and thick and saturated, no space left empty.
Minor Slow tempo Moderate dynamics Dense texture Wide-ranging melody
📥 Downloads
👤 Suggested For
🏆 Advanced Students 🎹 Concert Pianists 🎼 Scale Technique Focus 🎤 Recital Repertoire
⏰ Estimated Practice Time
24
weeks to performance-ready
Concert-level material. Mastery takes dedicated long-term commitment.
6hper week
156htotal est.
3hard segments
* Estimate assumes ~6h focused practice/week for an average-level student at this difficulty tier.
🎯 Difficulty Assessment
Expert
81 / 100
BeginnerIntermediateAdvancedExpert

Professional - complex layering and high speed required

3,161
Total Notes
22%
Interleaved
6.16
Avg N/Beat
782
Ornaments
⚠ Challenges
⚡ Some fast sections ✨ Tricky ornaments & trills 📏 Moderate note range ↕️ Large hand jumps #️⃣ Some accidentals ⏳ Long — needs stamina
✅ Accessible
🤝 Hands play independently 🎵 Simple single-line melody
🎚 Dynamics
mf
Wide dynamic range (mf avg) - strong expressive control needed
Avg velocity 70/127  ·  Spread 79  ·  Range 33–112
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🎹 Note Range - Piano Keyboard
Upper dot = RH (Right Hand) Lower dot = LH (Left Hand) White dot on black key = sharp/flat note used
📐 Note Range per Hand  ·  Sheet Preview
🤚 Left Hand
LowestA1
HighestG4
Span34 st (2Oct+m7)
Notes1,507
Widest leap24 st  D#4→D#2
🖐 Right Hand
LowestG3
HighestG7
Span48 st (4 Oct)
Notes1,654
Widest leap34 st  D#7→F4
🖐 Hand Span & Chord Density
Max chord span: 14 semitones (1Oct+M2)
0 stOctave2 Oct
Avg chord: 2 notes  ·  84 chords
⚠️ 1 stretch chords (>octave)
Max chord span: 12 semitones (Oct)
0 stOctave2 Oct
Avg chord: 2.1 notes  ·  192 chords
↪️ Scales & Thumb Crossing
Detected 52 scale/arpeggio runs requiring thumb crossing. This piece has extensive running passages — smooth thumb-under technique is essential.
🖐 RH: 24 runs · longest 23 notes
🤚 LH: 28 runs · longest 14 notes
🔁 Repeating Phrases
29%
Repeated
Only 38 of 130 bars repeat — this piece is largely through-composed with mostly unique material throughout.
Repeated bar Unique bar
🎯 Suggested Practice Passages ?Each "passage" is 2 consecutive measures (ô nhịp). The algorithm scores every passage by note density and interval leaps, then picks the 3 hardest for focused practice.
The hardest passages in this piece — spend extra time here before running the full piece.
📍 Measures 121–122
Hardest
📍 Measures 124–125
2nd hardest
📍 Measures 126–127
3rd hardest
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How difficult is Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2 on piano?
Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2 is rated Expert on PianoMetric's piano difficulty scale, with a score of 81/100. It was composed by Johan Halvorsen. Only advanced pianists with strong technique, high note density tolerance, and expressive control should attempt this piece. The piece runs approximately 6m 34s. It contains 3,161 notes in total.
How long does it take to learn Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2?
Based on PianoMetric's analysis, learning Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2 to a performance-ready level takes approximately 24 weeks (~156 total practice hours) for a expert level student. Concert-level material. Mastery takes dedicated long-term commitment.
Where can I download the piano sheet music PDF for Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2?
You can download the piano sheet music PDF for Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2 directly on this page. The sheet is 9 pages long. Click the 'PDF Download' button above to get the full score.
What piano level is required to play Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2?
Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2 is suited for Expert level pianists (difficulty score 81/100). This is expert-level repertoire. Strong sight-reading, high note density stamina, and polished expressive technique are essential.
What is the mood or feel of Passacaglia, Op. 20 No. 2?
Desolate and open, echoing across a vast emptiness, with wide dramatic swings in volume — patient, letting each moment settle and thick and saturated, no space left empty. It belongs to the Piano genre. The piece is played at 71 BPM.