This contemporary ballade explores modern harmonic landscapes and gestural play. Its effectiveness relies on the performer's ability to manipulate atmosphere through subtle pedaling and touch.
The primary difficulty is the precise execution of varied articulations within a non-tonal or expanded harmonic framework.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade no.2 is rated Henle level 6 of 9 — advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 7–8. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 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 lasts about 6 minutes.
Ballade no.2 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 Joseph Silmon-Clyde, Ballade by Joseph Silmon-Clyde, Asturias (Leyenda) by Isaac Albéniz — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.