In 1906, Maurice Ravel wrote in a letter: “What I am currently working on is not particularly demanding: a great waltz, a kind of homage to the memory of the great Strauß, not Richard, but Johann. You know my lively enthusiasm for these marvellous rhythms [... ].” However the work was still subject to changes until its completion and premiere fourteen years later: Initially intended to be called “Vienna”, it was given the new name “La Valse” after the First World War. Although it might have func...