A rare example of early 20th-century character writing for the piano. It balances simplistic melodic ideas with a sophisticated approach to harmonic layering.
Precision in articulation is required to prevent the textures from becoming muddy.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade is rated Henle level 4 of 9 — intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 5–6. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 6.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 4 — meaning you can already play level 3–4 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
Ballade 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 Nocturne in E-flat major, No. 2 by Frédéric Chopin, Andante by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Berceuse by Gabriel Fauré — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.