Maurice Ravel was born in the Basque region of France in 1875. His father was Swiss by birth and won a prize for piano playing as a youth. Later he settled on a mechanical career. This might explain why some of his music seems to be inspired by the delight he found in clockworks and mechanical toys. Also as the son of a Swiss engineer, his musical craftsmanship was always superb. Ravel died in 1937. He composed a large body of work, also providing orchestrations for previous pieces. Of all his compositions, Bolero is doubtless the one best known.