Part of a series of ballades, this work continues Rzewski's exploration of modern piano techniques combined with historical references. It is a demanding piece that requires total control over tone color and timing.
Managing the rapid shifts in registration and articulation requires significant physical and mental endurance.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade No.6 is rated Henle level 8 of 9 — concert repertoire, roughly diploma level. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 10.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 8 — meaning you can already play level 7–8 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.6 lasts about 12 minutes.
Ballade No.6 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. 5 (It Makes a Long Time Man Feel Bad) by Frederic Rzewski, Ballade No.5 by Frederic Rzewski, Cadenza con o senza Beethoven by Frederic Rzewski — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.