The French pronunciation is the one to strive for on timbre. And M.Ted is correct about the Bolero form--Ravel didn't invent it, but for folks who aren't familiar with the many forms involved in classical music, it comes across as a unique piece. Like a passacaligia being a traditional form but one that Bach's Passacaligia and Fugue has made seem all his own. Both are repetitive, acting in a way as theme and variations, very subtle, probably very difficult to write.

Ravel was brilliant. He took a piano version of Moussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition and orchestrated it. Rimski-Korsakov's Shéhérazade is another he orchestrated.

SRS