Maurice Ravel

(March 7, 1875 – December 28, 1937) The French composer Maurice Ravel was also a pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with Claude Debussy, although neither composer was particularly fond of the label. Ravel wrote almost all his music as piano pieces first, and later orchestrated them. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest, most innovative orchestrators of all time. Although he was an extremely private man, he was part of a glittering society of writers, painters, musicians and thinkers in Paris before World War I. When war broke out in 1914, 39-year-old Ravel attempted to enlist, but repeatedly failed his physical. Eventually he was allowed to serve as an ambulance driver and was sent to the front lines, and nearly died from a series of health complications including dysentery, a heart condition, frostbite, and what was in all likelihood PTSD. Ravel later toured the United States and famously visited the jazz clubs of Harlem with George Gershwin as his guide. He incorporated the sounds of American jazz into his later works.