This specific Ave Maria is an introspective work showcasing Liszt's ability to create a deep, prayerful atmosphere through minimal means. Its distinctiveness is found in the refined harmonic shifts and delicate melodic layering.
Maintaining a continuous, legato tone while navigating complex inner voice crossings is the main challenge.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ave Maria (S.20) is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 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 Ave Maria (S.20) lasts about 4 minutes.
Ave Maria (S.20) 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 Ave Maria d'Arcadelt by Franz Liszt, Ave Maria IV, Solo piano by Franz Liszt, Ave Maria in G by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.