I can’t quite tell if I feel like I’m out of ideas, or on a real good streak here. Several weeks of the last few months I have worked on pieces that I’d never even heard of before. In a way that makes me feel very good, because I’m learning completely new material, but also makes me wonder whether it’s just November, and I’m in a rut. Whatever the case, here I am with Ravel’s Valses nobles et sentimentales. Ravel has been on good terms with me this year. I’ve enjoyed learning quite a few pieces of his; from Couperin all the way back in February, and Mother Goose and the Pavane this summer, it’s a good year for me to see there is so much more to Ravel than Bolero.