Glazunov's Ballade Op. 78 is a late Romantic exploration of Russian lyrical intensity and formal structure. It stands out for its rich harmonic language and highly idiomatic writing for the piano.
Students must navigate thick chordal textures without sacrificing the forward motion of the melodic line.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Ballade (Op.78) 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 8.
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.78) lasts about 8 minutes.
Ballade (Op.78) 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.4 by Frederic Chopin, Ballade No.4 by Frédéric Chopin, Ballade No.1 by Frédéric Chopin — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.