Maurice Ravel originally composed his Pièce en forme de Habanera as a Vocalise etude en forme de Habanera for bass voice and piano in 1907.
A song without words, Ravel took as his model the slow, sultry Spanish dance called the habanera — like most French composers of the period, Ravel was fascinated by the music of Spain — and used it as the basis of a blindingly difficult virtuoso exercise for the bass voice.
Ravel later transcribed the work for cello and piano — a transcription that retains all the virtuosity of the original — and from this several other arrangements have been made for virtually any and all instruments with aspirations to virtuoso glory.
Here is a nice version of this composition, arranged for Flute and piano:
