Maurice Ravel at the piano, accompanied by Canadian singer Éva Gauthier 7 March 1928, at the time of his American tour. George Gershwin stands on the far right.
Maurice Ravel (born Ciboure, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, 7 March 1875; died Paris, 28 December 1937) was a Frenchcomposer. His name is often thought of together with that of Claude Debussy, but their music is really very different. Ravel liked children and animals and his music is often about them. He liked to write about fairy tales and stories from far away lands. He wrote some lovely piano music, most of which is difficult to play. Boléro is a 17-minute piece for orchestra. A short version was used by ice-skaters Torvill and Dean for the dance that made them Olympic champions in 1984.