A reflective piece by the Polish master Moniuszko that showcases his lyrical gift for piano writing. Its charm lies in its simplicity and deep, song-like quality.
Focus on subtle dynamic shading to bring out the inner voices and sustain the melodic long-lines.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Bajka is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 6.
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 Bajka lasts about 4 minutes.
Bajka 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 Barkarola by Stanisław Moniuszko, Blumenstück Op.19 by Robert Schumann, Ballade by Heinrich Neal — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.