Georg Schumann’s Ballade is a heavy, late-Romantic work that bridges the gap between Brahmsian structure and grand piano virtuosity. It is marked by intellectual rigor and a massive, orchestral approach to the keyboard.
The player must manage the thick, dense chordal textures to prevent the voicing from becoming muddy.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade (Op.65) 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 (Op.65) lasts about 8 minutes.
Ballade (Op.65) 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 Bénédiction et serment, 2 motifs de Benvenuto Cellini de Hector Berlioz by Franz Liszt, Ballade No.2 by York Bowen, Ballata No.1 in G minor by Marco Anzoletti — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.