This piece attempts to bridge the gap between early Romantic character pieces and the classical ballad tradition. It relies on standard harmonic progressions and lyrical melodic lines.
The balance between the flowing melodic line and the accompaniment patterns must be maintained with precise voicing.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.1 in C major (Op.16) 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 No.1 in C major (Op.16) lasts about 5 minutes.
Ballade No.1 in C major (Op.16) 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 Ballade No.1 by Daniel Fagundo García, Andante by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Berceuse by Mily Balakirev — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.