This version represents the same existential reflection as the opus version, focusing on a sense of musical narrative through tension and release. It demands high emotional endurance to sustain the piece's intensity.
Maintain rhythmic integrity through the more improvisatory, rubato-heavy sections of the work.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade of the Existense is rated Henle level 7 of 9 — late advanced repertoire, roughly ABRSM grade 8 and above. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 9.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 7 — meaning you can already play level 6–7 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 of the Existense lasts about 7 minutes.
Ballade of the Existense 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 of the Existense by Ilya Mishchenkov, Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky, Ballade No.2 by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.