Balakirev's 'Au jardin' is a delicate, evocative piece that demonstrates his lyrical Russian Romantic sensibility. It features rich, warm harmonic textures that demand a deep, resonant touch.
Focus on the legato connection of the melody across multiple voice layers.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Au jardin is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
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 Au jardin lasts about 3 minutes.
Au jardin 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 Berceuse by Mily Balakirev, Berceuse by Mel Bonis, Berceuse by Louis Moreau Gottschalk — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.