This piece uses flowing, wave-like figuration to evoke the vastness of the sea. It combines romantic harmonic warmth with impressionistic textural sensibility.
The main challenge is achieving smooth, unbroken arpeggio lines across the span of the keyboard.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Au large 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 large lasts about 3 minutes.
Au large 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 Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Berceuse - Cradle Song by Armas Järnefelt, Clair de lune by Claude Debussy — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.