1875 - 1880: Paris, 40 rue des Martyrs This was the first of several addresses in Montmartre at which the Ravel family lived during their earlier years in Paris. These were the streets of Ravel's childhood and early life. And it was here that his brother Edouard was born. The buildings share a common style: solid, unpretentious apartment blocks, poised between middle-class respectability and a more bohemian world.

1880 - 1886: Paris, 29 rue de Laval The Ravel family's next home was about 300 metres away from their previous apartment. Rue de Laval, which is now called rue Victor Massé, runs between rue des Martyrs and rue Pigalle. No.29 is now a hotel. (For a few months of 1886 (March to June), Vincent van Gogh was living nearby, at 25 rue de Laval, in the apartment of his brother Theo.)

1886 - 1896: Paris, 73 rue Pigalle Another short move brought the family to rue Pigalle, where they remained for 10 years. The apartments of no.73 now stand above one of the area's nightclubs. It was here that Ravel produced his first compositions, although none of them was performed until later. They included the songs Ballade de la reine morte d'aimer and Un grand sommeil noir, and the Sérénade grotesque and Menuet antique, both for piano duet.

From here, the Ravels moved for the first and only time to the Left Bank, to rue Lagrange.

www.maurice-ravel.net