A composer with a modern and demanding repertoire, as much for his science of
orchestration as for the structural rigor of his works, Maurice Ravel remains
associated with his most basic and most performed piece in the world, his famous
Boléro. The son of a Swiss engineer and a Basque mother, Joseph Maurice Ravel
was born in Ciboure on March 7, 1875. He was three years old when his parents
moved to Paris, and began piano lessons four years later with Henri Ghys, then
harmony with Charles René. After further lessons with Émile Descombes, he
entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1889,...