Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is often considered, after the death of Debussy in 1918, to be the leading French composer of the 1920’s and 30’s. Earlier in his career, he had caused consternation in the highly conservative pre-war French musical establishment, with his unmistakable and highly original style. His most famous work is his Bolero , which marks the pinnacle of his compositional career. Commissioned as a single-movement orchestral ballet in 1928 by Ida Rubenstein, Ravel himself is said to...