A subtly textured Impressionist work by Florent Schmitt that captures the cold, swirling quality of falling snow. It is noted for its harmonic ambiguity and fluid rhythmic shifts.
Success depends on careful use of the sustain pedal to blend harmonies without losing clarity.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade de la Neige (Op. 6) is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
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 Ballade de la Neige (Op. 6) lasts about 4 minutes.
Ballade de la Neige (Op. 6) 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 Clair de lune by Claude Debussy, Gymnopédie No. 1 by Erik Satie, Prelude in D-flat major, No. 15 by Frédéric Chopin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.