A character piece by Australian-British composer George Howard Clutsam, reflecting the sentimental salon aesthetic of the early 20th century. It emphasizes fluid melodic phrasing over a steady accompaniment.
Focus on balancing the melody in the right hand against a subtle, rhythmic accompaniment.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ball dreams is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 3.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 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 Ball dreams lasts about 3 minutes.
Ball dreams 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 'O sole mio by Eduardo Di Capua, Believe Me, If All those Endearing Young Charms by Irish Folk Music, Belle of the Ball by Leroy Anderson — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.