This piece by Nikolai Ivanovich Aleksandrov reflects the late-Romantic Russian tradition of the piano ballade, utilizing dense textures and intense dynamic changes. It follows a narrative structure typical of the genre in this era.
The performer must navigate significant shifts in texture and volume to ensure the dramatic narrative remains coherent.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballad is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 8.
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 Ballad lasts about 5 minutes.
Ballad 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 Piano Sonata No. 8 'Pathétique' by Ludwig van Beethoven, Balada mexicana by Manuel Ponce, Allegro Appassionato by Alexander Scriabin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.