Rhené-Baton was a French composer whose piano works often lean toward the Impressionist palette. This etude utilizes harmonic color and texture rather than sheer velocity to create its musical effect.
At Henle 5 this is a late-intermediate piece — technically substantial, with musical demands to match. The main demands: careful pedaling — clarity depends on the foot as much as the fingers; chord voicing — bringing out one note inside a handful of others; and several simultaneous layers, each needing its own dynamic level.
The challenge lies in managing complex pedaling to achieve a wash of sound without blurring the underlying harmonies.
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.
Etude in A minor is rated Henle level 5 of 9 — late intermediate repertoire, roughly ABRSM grades 6–7. In the RCM system it corresponds to about level 7.
You should be comfortable at Henle level 5 — meaning you can already play level 4–5 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 Etude in A minor lasts about 3 minutes.
Etude in A minor 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 Bourrée by Rhené Emmanuel Baton, Asturias (Leyenda) by Isaac Albéniz, Elegy No.1 by Franz Liszt — see the full similar-pieces list on this page.