Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel. Originally comp… Read Full Bio ↴Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel. Originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian ballerina Ida Rubenstein, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is Ravel's most famous musical composition.
Boléro is "Ravel's most straightforward composition in any medium". The music is built over an unchanging ostinato rhythm played on one or more snare drums that remains constant throughout the piece.
On top of this rhythm is repeated a single theme, consisting of two eighteen-bar sections, each itself repeated twice. Tension is provided by the contrast between the steady percussive rhythm, and the "expressive vocal melody trying to break free". Interest is maintained by constant reorchestration of the theme, leading to a variety of timbres, and by a steady crescendo.
The melody is passed among different instruments: 1) flute 2) clarinet 3) bassoon 4) E-flat clarinet 5) oboe d'amore 6) trumpet (with flute not heard clearly and in higher octave than the first part) 7) tenor saxophone 8) soprano saxophone 9) horn, piccolos and celesta 10) oboe, English horn and clarinet 11) trombone 12) some of the wind instruments 13) first violins and some wind instruments 14) first and second violins together with some wind instruments 15) violins and some of the wind instruments 16) some instruments in the orchestra 17) and finally most but not all the instruments in the orchestra (with bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam). While the melody continues to be played in C throughout, from the middle onwards other instruments double it in different keys. The first such doubling involves a horn playing the melody in C, while a celeste doubles it 2 and 3 octaves above and two piccolos play the melody in the keys of G and E, respectively. This functions as a reinforcement of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th overtones of each note of the melody. The other significant "key doubling" involves sounding the melody a 5th above or a 4th below, in G major. Other than these "key doublings", Ravel simply harmonizes the melody using diatonic chords.
The accompaniment becomes gradually thicker and louder until the whole orchestra is playing at the very end. Just before the end, there is a sudden change of key to E major, though C major is reestablished after just eight bars. Six bars from the end, the bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam make their first entry, the English horn returns, and the trombones and both saxophones play raucous glissandi while the whole orchestra beats out the rhythm that has been played on the snare drum from the very first bar. Finally, the work descends from a dissonant D-flat chord to a C major chord.
Boléro is "Ravel's most straightforward composition in any medium". The music is built over an unchanging ostinato rhythm played on one or more snare drums that remains constant throughout the piece.
On top of this rhythm is repeated a single theme, consisting of two eighteen-bar sections, each itself repeated twice. Tension is provided by the contrast between the steady percussive rhythm, and the "expressive vocal melody trying to break free". Interest is maintained by constant reorchestration of the theme, leading to a variety of timbres, and by a steady crescendo.
The melody is passed among different instruments: 1) flute 2) clarinet 3) bassoon 4) E-flat clarinet 5) oboe d'amore 6) trumpet (with flute not heard clearly and in higher octave than the first part) 7) tenor saxophone 8) soprano saxophone 9) horn, piccolos and celesta 10) oboe, English horn and clarinet 11) trombone 12) some of the wind instruments 13) first violins and some wind instruments 14) first and second violins together with some wind instruments 15) violins and some of the wind instruments 16) some instruments in the orchestra 17) and finally most but not all the instruments in the orchestra (with bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam). While the melody continues to be played in C throughout, from the middle onwards other instruments double it in different keys. The first such doubling involves a horn playing the melody in C, while a celeste doubles it 2 and 3 octaves above and two piccolos play the melody in the keys of G and E, respectively. This functions as a reinforcement of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th overtones of each note of the melody. The other significant "key doubling" involves sounding the melody a 5th above or a 4th below, in G major. Other than these "key doublings", Ravel simply harmonizes the melody using diatonic chords.
The accompaniment becomes gradually thicker and louder until the whole orchestra is playing at the very end. Just before the end, there is a sudden change of key to E major, though C major is reestablished after just eight bars. Six bars from the end, the bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam make their first entry, the English horn returns, and the trombones and both saxophones play raucous glissandi while the whole orchestra beats out the rhythm that has been played on the snare drum from the very first bar. Finally, the work descends from a dissonant D-flat chord to a C major chord.
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@FL2070
0:00 Snare Ostinato Intro
0:10 A1 Flute Solo
0:56 A2 B-flat Clarinet Solo
1:42 B1 Bassoon Solo
2:29 B2 E-flat Clarinet Solo
3:16 A1 Oboe d'Amour Solo
4:03 A2 (muted) Trumpet Solo + Flute
4:50 B1 Tenor Saxophone Solo
5:37 B2 Soprano Saxophone Solo
6:25 A1 French Horn Solo + Piccolos and Celesta
7:11 A2 Oboe, Oboe a'Amour, English Horn, and Clarinets
7:58 B1 Tenor Trombone Solo
8:46 B2 Tenor Saxophone, English Horn, Clarinets, Oboes, Flutes and Piccolo
9:34 A1 Violins, Clarinets, Oboes, Flutes and Piccolo
10:20 A2 Violins, Tenor Saxophone, Clarinets, Oboes, Flutes, and Piccolo
11:07 B1 Violins/Violins+Violas, Trumpet/French Horn, Oboes, Flutes, and Piccolo
11:54 B2 Violins, Violas, Cellos, Trombone, Saxophones, Clarinets, Oboes, Flutes, and Piccolo
12:41 A Violins, Trumpets, Saxophones, Flutes, Piccolo
13:28 B Violins, Trumpets, Trombone, Saxophones, Flutes, and Piccolo
@sopapoman
This guy wrote a single motive, dragged it for 15 minutes and called it a day. Truly a genius.
@carlogaytan7010
This is because he was slowly going insane. He couldn't think of anything else other than this melody, literally, he couldn't think of anything else.
Sometimes insanity makes the greatest Art.
@1995yuda
@@carlogaytan7010 Holy shit, man !
@MorgothBauglire
@@carlogaytan7010 cough vincent van gogh cough you know the dutch painter who cut off his own ear
@carlogaytan7010
@@MorgothBauglire yes😂
@franciscopires1216
You are Lucky he dragged it for 15 mim, imagine if he did it for 2 hours.
@Sena-ii2el
Bolero actually summarizes human life. Life is actually full of routines and repetitions. But if we can, we can color our monotonous lives by adding new sounds and breaths to them every new day, every new month. We can gradually improve the quality of our lives and make it amazing like Bolero.
@coreyfinn2554
at the time of bolero writing this song he was suffering from an illness which killed him as the spindle neurones in his brain unravelled and the illness caused him to heavily focus on repetition especially in the later stages of the disease. the song was a commission from a Russian dancer who i think was in a circus haven’t looked at the article for a year though, so unsure.
@Sena-ii2el
@@coreyfinn2554 Actually, I don't know much about Ravel's life. I just discovered the song and that's how it made me feel. But now I'd like to investigate what you said. I'll read articles and news about it. Thank you for giving me this information. (I wrote using the translation hope there is no mistake :)
@jonathanakbari5872
@@coreyfinn2554 ultimate party pooper lmfaoooo