Ravel's Boléro Debuts
Ravel's "Boléro" is an orchestral composition by the French composer Maurice Ravel, which premiered in Paris on November 22, 1928. This work has since become Ravel's most celebrated piece, known for its unique structure and rhythmic drive. Composed as a ballet for the dancer Ida Rubenstein, "Boléro" features a repetitive melody that builds in orchestration and intensity over approximately 17 minutes, culminating in a powerful orchestral climax. The piece is based on the traditional Spanish boléro dance, which is characterized by a steady beat and simple melodic patterns.
Ravel, who was born in 1875, had an illustrious career, facing early challenges in his studies but eventually becoming a key figure in French music. His work on "Boléro" occurred during a period marked by health difficulties, as he was experiencing progressive symptoms that later led to his incapacitation. The composition's reliance on orchestral timbre over melodic complexity has sparked discussions among musicologists regarding its relationship to Ravel's declining health. Despite its origins as a ballet score, "Boléro" is now often performed purely as a symphonic piece, showcasing Ravel's innovative orchestration and enduring appeal in the classical music repertoire.
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Ravel's Boléro Debuts
Ravel's Boléro Debuts
Boléro, an orchestral work by the French composer Maurice Joseph Ravel, was first performed in Paris, France, on November 22, 1928. It was a great success and has remained his most popular work.
Ravel was born on March 7, 1875, in Cilboure, France. His mother was of Basque descent; his father was French-Swiss. Ravel's talent for music was discovered early in life, and he composed some of his best-known works, such as the Sonatine (1905) for piano and the String Quartet (1903), while studying at the Paris Conservatoire. Ravel failed three times to win the Prix de Rome for composition because those judging the competition declared that the work he submitted was too “advanced,” a controversial ruling that resulted in the resignation of Theodore Dubois, the director of the Conservatoire. Ravel left the Conservatoire in 1905 to pursue a career as a freelance musician.
He joined a group of likeminded artists, musicians, and writers that met in a Paris studio every Saturday to discuss new ideas and collaborate on various projects. Ravel had already composed his first ballet, Daphnis et Chloe (1912), when he wrote his bestknown work, Boléro (1928), commissioned by the ballerina Ida Rubenstein for a dance recital. Originally, he was going to orchestrate some excerpts from his piano suite Iberia for her but found that he could not secure the rights to do so. Ravel then decided to write something completely different, and he would later call Boléro “an exercise in orchestration.”
The boléro is considered the national dance of Spain. It is Moroccan in origin and is similar to the fandango. Introduced in the late-18th century, it is in 2-4 or 3-4 time and may be performed solo or in a duo, with castanets, guitar, and perhaps voices as well. Ravel's Boléro is a simple piece based on this popular dance. Accompanied by the steady beat of a snare drum, it consists of a tune and its minor counterpart being repeated for 17 minutes. It starts off softly with one or two instruments but grows in volume until the whole orchestra is playing it as loudly as possible, and it ends with a dramatic flourish. The ballet's choreographer was Bronislava Nijinska, with a set designed by Alexander Benois. In the story, 18 young men compete in a dive bar for the affections of a gypsy woman who alternately sits at a table and dances on it. Nowadays, the composition is almost always presented as a pure musical piece. It was an immediate success, despite the fact that, according to Ravel, “it contains no music.”
In recent years, Ravel's mental health at the time he composed Boléro has been the subject of some controversy. Ravel became gradually incapacitated, unable to speak or write, beginning in 1927, and researchers have speculated that this progressive brain disease may have influenced the composition of his later works, which include Boléro, Sonata for Violin and Piano (1927), the Piano Concerto in D, for the Left Hand (1931)—written for pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who had lost his right hand during World War I—and Don Quichotte à Dulcinée (1932). Some neurologists believe that Boléro especially demonstrates how his later music was dominated by orchestral timbres, rather than melody, signifying the deterioration of the left side of his brain (the right side controls timbre). Others disagree and suggest that, while two specific conditions may have caused Ravel's loss of language and motor skills, his memory remained intact, allowing him to compose original music. Whatever the effect on his work, the problem persisted despite brain surgery, and Ravel died on December 28, 1937, in Paris.