Lew Pollack's Buddha is a popular-style piano piece reflecting the early 20th-century fascination with exoticism in salon music. It is a simple, melodic work that prioritizes a sustained, singing tone and a tranquil atmosphere.
The student must focus on maintaining a steady melodic line while balancing the delicate accompaniment.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
Buddha is rated Henle level 3 of 9 — late beginner repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 4–5. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 4.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 3 — meaning you can already play level 2–3 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 Buddha lasts about 3 minutes.
Buddha 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 Berceuse by Philippe Bellenot, Canon by Jashiin, Berceuse by Swan Hennessy — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.