Gaston Borch's work is a classic example of turn-of-the-century light piano literature. It features a sweeping, lyrical melody that demands a expressive use of rubato.
At Henle 3 this is a late-beginner piece — comfortable hands-together playing is assumed, and musical shaping starts to matter. The main demands: a true singing tone, with the melody floating above the accompaniment; a left hand with real melodic or rhythmic responsibility of its own; and rubato that must breathe naturally without losing the pulse.
The primary challenge is balancing the lyrical melody against the steady rhythmic pulse of the left hand.
Comparable difficulty and character — good candidates for what to learn next.
A level or two down with the same spirit — ideal if this piece is still out of reach.
Where this piece's skills lead: slightly harder works making similar technical demands.
Dans les bois 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 Dans les bois lasts about 3 minutes.
Dans les bois 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 Bouton de Rose by Gaston Borch, Bouton de Rose by Gaston Borch, 'O sole mio by Eduardo Di Capua — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.