One of the greatest orchestrators in the history of Western music, Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) was a painstaking perfectionist who left fewer pieces of music than his colleagues, but they were of extraordinary quality. Among his masterworks were orchestral pieces such as Bolero and La Valse, piano pieces such as Gaspard de la Nuit and Le tombeau de Couperin, chamber music, and works for the stage. During his lifetime, he was acclaimed as France’s greatest composer.