Leander Schlegel's Ballade No. 2 is a late Romantic work characteristic of the salon style. It features sweeping melodic lines and lush harmonic textures typical of the post-Lisztian era.
The primary challenge is maintaining a consistent singing tone while navigating complex harmonic shifts.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.2 (Op.11) 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.
A typical performance of Ballade No.2 (Op.11) lasts about 6 minutes.
Ballade No.2 (Op.11) 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 by Leander Schlegel, Liebestraum No. 3 in A-flat major by Franz Liszt, 16 Waltzes by Johannes Brahms — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.