Maurice Ravel was a french composer, pianist, and conductor, often associated with the Impressionist movement of the late 19th century despite regularly rejecting the term. He was the son of a musical family and went on to study at the Paris Conservatoire, where he did not excel. In Paris, young Ravel studied piano performance with Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot, and was often compared to his far more studious colleagues, much to his detriment. Many musicologists believe this is what pushed Ravel to pursue composition and conducting, deeming him "only teachable on his own terms."

After leaving the Conservatoire, Ravel joined an informal group of young artists, musicians, and poets in Paris, a cohort they called Les Apaches ("The Hooligans"), though they considered themselves "artistic outcasts" for their revolutionary ideas. One object of inspiration for the Hooligans was the music of Claude Debussy. 

Twelve years his junior, Ravel idolized Debussy, though their friendship was never close, and Ravel was able to distance himself from the elder composer's shadow – if only in his own mind. He wrote: "[Debussy's] genius was obviously one of great individuality, creating its own laws, constantly in evolution, expressing itself freely, yet always faithful to French tradition. For Debussy, the musician and the man, I have had profound admiration, but by nature I am different from Debussy ... I think I have always personally followed a direction opposed to that of [his] symbolism."