Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16
Friedrich Burgmüller (1806–1874) · sheet music
- Key G minor
- Time 4/4
- Levels 9
- Passages 2
Your turn · both hands
Preparing your passage…
Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). The reading release has 2 passages from this piece at level 9; the reader above opens on the easiest, bars 1–8 for both hands together.
The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.
Your practice path
Learn it the way teachers do: each hand on its own, then together, then the hard bars. Each step is a real graded passage of Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16.
- Hands together · bars 1–8 level 9
How to play Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16
- Tempo:Allegro moderato here should still feel like a lament: pick a steady pulse at which the sixteenth-note figures are even and the long notes have time to sing.
- Left hand:The left hand opens with sixteenth-note broken chords that stop on the half beat; practice those bursts alone, then practice the passages where it holds the long melody notes.
- Right hand:Hold the long tied notes for their full value and shape the falling eighth notes after them, then switch to a light, even touch when the right hand takes over the sixteenths.
- Hands together:Whichever hand has the long notes carries the melody, so play it slightly louder and keep the sixteenth-note hand soft underneath.
- Dynamics:The piece starts piano and dolente and reserves forte for one phrase in the second half; keep the swells small elsewhere so that peak means something.
- Fingering:Keep the hand over each chord shape for the sixteenth-note figures so it does not relocate mid-figure, and follow the printed fingering for the repeated double notes.
- Practice:Practice each sixteenth-note figure as a block chord first, then broken, then add the long notes in the other hand one phrase at a time.
- Reading:Watch for clef changes in the left hand and for the F-sharps and C-sharps that the key signature does not show.
Common mistakes
- Letting the sixteenth notes get louder than the long-note melody. Fix: Practice the sixteenth-note hand at a whisper and bring the long notes out with a singing tone.
- Cutting the tied long notes short. Fix: Count through each tie in eighths and keep the finger down until the next note.
- Missing the moment the hands swap roles. Fix: Mark where the right hand takes the sixteenths and the left hand takes the melody, and practice that join separately.
- Playing the repeated staccato double notes heavily. Fix: Keep the wrist loose and play them from close to the keys, staying soft until the forte phrase.
Structure: binary (two repeated halves)
The first half presents the lament: long right-hand notes over sixteenth-note figures, then the hands swap roles and the half closes on the dominant. The second half changes texture to repeated staccato double notes over held chords, rises to a forte phrase, and closes quietly in G minor.
- A · Lament with exchanged roles (G minor, ending on the dominant)
- Long tied melody notes in the right hand over short broken-chord bursts in the left; then the right hand takes the sixteenths while the left hand holds long notes. A sforzando run leads to a cadence on D.
- B · Pulsing double notes and climax (C minor and G minor)
- The right hand plays repeated staccato pairs of notes in eighths while the left hand pulses on thirds, then slurred phrases rise to a forte peak before the music falls back to a soft G minor close.
About Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16
Douce plainte, a gentle or sweet complaint, is the sixteenth of the 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op. 100, which Friedrich Burgmüller published in Paris in 1851. Piano Street gives the English title Gentle Complaint.
The Litolff-based edition marks it Allegro moderato and asks for a dolente, sorrowful, tone at the start. Over that opening, a right-hand melody of long held notes sings above short bursts of sixteenth-note broken chords in the left hand.
The study's real lesson is balance and exchange: partway through the first half the hands swap jobs, so the left hand takes the long notes while the right hand ripples. The player has to keep the melody on top of the texture whichever hand has it.
- The left hand's first marking in the Litolff-based edition is dolente, Italian for sorrowful.
- The Op. 100 set was registered in the Bibliographie de la France on 27 December 1851, according to IMSLP.
- Burgmüller followed Op. 100 with two sets for more advanced students, Op. 105 and Op. 109.
Why the first passage is level 9
That passage is level 9 rather than 8 because it leaps a fifth plus an octave, the clef changes partway through.
Each sixteenth-note figure outlines one chord, so read the chord and let the hand fall into the shape; keep your eyes on whichever hand has the long melody notes.
Questions about Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16
- How hard is Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 to play?
- Its passages grade from level 9 on Real Sight Reader's ten-level reading scale, so the full piece is intermediate to advanced reading. The hardest stretch is bars 1–8 at level 9.
- Is there an easy part of Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 for beginners?
- Its easiest passage is level 9, so it suits a reader past the beginner stage. Start with bars 1–8 for both hands together, the level-9 passage in the reader at the top of this page; it is level 9 because it leaps a fifth plus an octave and the clef changes partway through.
- What key and time signature is Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 in?
- Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 is in G minor, 2 flats. The engraving on this page is in 4/4 time.
- Who composed Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16?
- Friedrich Burgmüller, German-French romantic (1806–1874). Douce plainte, a gentle or sweet complaint, is the sixteenth of the 25 Études faciles et progressives, Op.
- Can I practice Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 online for free?
- Yes. The reader on this page plays any of the 2 graded passages from Douce Plainte (Tender Complaint), Op. 100 No. 16 in your browser, with an on-screen keyboard or a MIDI keyboard, and marks every note as you play. No signup.
- What does Douce plainte mean?
- It is French for gentle or sweet complaint, a soft lament rather than an angry protest; Piano Street calls it Gentle Complaint.
- How can I make the melody stand out in Douce plainte?
- Give the long melody notes more arm weight and play the sixteenth-note figures with light fingertips, remembering that the melody moves to the left hand for a while.
- Which study comes before and after Douce plainte in Op. 100?
- It follows Ballade (No. 15) and comes before La babillarde (No. 17).
Every passage, easiest first
The reading release grades 2 distinct passages of this piece. Open any of them in the reader:
More pieces to sight-read
Score: public-domain engraving from the corpus (mutopia-ly), graded by the piano-reading-v2-20261023-identity-audit reading release.