A deeply introspective work that attempts to musicalize philosophical concepts through a dark, complex harmonic language. The piece is highly fragmented, requiring careful structural management from the pianist.
Pianists must manage the layered textures to ensure the main melodic threads emerge through the dense, modern harmonies.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade of the Existense (Op.20) 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 (Op.20) lasts about 7 minutes.
Ballade of the Existense (Op.20) 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.