This contemporary piece by Joshua Nichols explores melodic clarity and tonal stability. It fits well into the repertoire of students looking for modern yet accessible narrative piano music.
Focus on consistent, even articulation in the faster passage-work to ensure the melodic line remains clear.
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.
A typical performance of Ballade lasts about 3 minutes.
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 Prelude in C major by Johann Sebastian Bach, Gymnopédie No. 2 by Erik Satie, Ave Maria (The Bells of Rome) by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.