A work by the American composer George Templeton Strong, who was deeply influenced by the German Romantic school. The music features heavy, thick chords and a somber, brooding character.
The player must manage the large chordal spans without introducing unnecessary tension in the wrists.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.1 (Op.22) is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 6 — meaning you can already play level 5–6 pieces cleanly. Learning it one level early is possible as a stretch piece, but more than that usually leads to months of frustration.
Ballade No.1 (Op.22) 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.2 by George Templeton Strong, Bulgarische Suite by Pancho Haralanov Vladigerov, Bulgarischen Suite by Pancho Haralanov Vladigerov — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.