Born in Ciboure on 7 March 1875, Maurice Ravel was, alongside Claude Debussy, one of the two most influential French music figures of his age, and a leading exponent of the impressionist movement. He is known for his broad range of genres, and Spanish influence was a recurring theme in much of his work. Most of his compositions are now staples of the concert repertoire, including the symphonic ballet Daphnis et Chloé (1909-1912) and Bolero (1928). Recognised as a master of orchestration and a perfectionist, Ravel regularly showed an extreme sensitivity and fascination for the fantastic and the realm of dreams, as seen in his famous work L’Enfant et les Sortilèges created in 1925 in Monte-Carlo, based on a book by Colette.
