The work had its genesis in a commission from the dancer Ida Rubinstein , who asked Ravel to create a Ballet score with a Spanish character. The original plan had been for him to Orchestrate excerpts from Isaac Albéniz ' set of Piano pieces, ''Iberia'', but he was unable to obtain the rights to do so, since Albéniz had given the rights of orchestration to his pupil Ferdinand Enrique Arbos . Upon Arbos's hearing of this, he said he would happily allow Ravel to orchestrate the pieces. However, Ravel instead wrote a brand new piece based on the Spanish dance and musical form called '' Bolero ''.
''Boléro'' is written for a large orchestra consisting of two Flute s, Piccolo , two Oboe s, Oboe D'amore , Cor Anglais , E-flat Clarinet , two B-flat clarinets, Bass Clarinet , two Bassoon s, Contrabassoon , four Horn s, piccolo Trumpet in D, three trumpets, three Trombone s, Tuba , three Saxophones (one sopranino, one soprano and one tenor), Timpani , two Snare Drum s, Cymbals , Tam-tam , Celesta , Harp and Strings ( Violin s, Viola s, Cello s and Double Bass es). An average performance will last in the area of fifteen minutes, with some recordings extending as long as 18 minutes.
The composition has a very simple structure—it consists almost entirely of one Melody and one Countermelody , repeated over and over again, orchestrated differently each time, but otherwise unchanging. It begins quietly, with the melody played in C Major by a flute over an Ostinato rhythm played on a Snare Drum that continues throughout the piece:
The melody is passed between different instruments, clarinet, bassoon, E-flat clarinet, oboe d'amore, trumpet, saxophone, horn, trombone and so on. The accompaniment becomes gradually thicker and louder until the whole orchestra is playing at the very end. This progression from soft to loud in volume is called a Crescendo . Just before the end (rehearsal number 18 in the score), 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, and the trombones play raucous Glissandi while the whole orchestra beats out the rhythm that has been played on the snare drum from the very first bar. The work ends on a C major chord.
The composition was a great success when it was premiered at the Paris Opéra on November 22 , 1928 , with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and designs by Benois . It has remained somewhat popular ever since, though is usually played as a purely orchestral work, only rarely being staged as a ballet. Ravel purported to be somewhat embarrassed that a composition which was, in his words, "without music", should become so well known. Apparently, at the premiere, a woman declared that Ravel was mad. When told about this, Ravel remarked, "Aha! She understood the piece!"
The piece was first published by the Parisian firm Durand in 1929 . Arrangements of the piece were made for Piano solo and piano duet (two people playing at one piano), and Ravel himself composed a version for two pianos, published in 1930 .
''Boléro'' was one of the last pieces that Ravel composed before illness forced him into retirement. The only works he wrote after this were the '' Piano Concerto For The Left Hand '', the '' Piano Concerto In G Major '', and the song cycle "Trois chansons de Don Quichotte à Dulcinée".
- ''Boléro'' is played in the background of the movie "The New Guy" in the scene in which the new guy is dragging a knocked out tough guy through the halls.
- The ''Boléro'' was used in the movie '' 10 '' to great acclaim. The character played by Bo Derek keeps restarting this music on a phonograph, while trying to seduce Dudley Moore . The identification of the piece with Bo Derek in the minds of moviegoers of the time was the admitted inspiration for the movie Bolero starring Bo five years later.
- The ''Boléro'' appears in Futurama season 4, episode 18, in which Fry proceeds to play the Holophoner.
- The ''Boléro'' was featured in the 1977 Italian Animated Movie '' Allegro Non Troppo '', directed by Bruno Bozzetto .
- ''Boléro'' was used in a sequence in the fantasy animation ''Wizards'' (1973) by Ralph Bakshi, which featured a post-nuclear war wasteland scenario several hundred years in the future.
- The ''Boléro'', in the piece's entirety, plays over the carnage of the Fourth Battle of Tiamat in the '', the first film in the ''Legend of the Galactic Heroes'' series.
- The ''Boléro'' was frequently played in the first season of the Anime series Digimon .
- The ''Boléro'' is featured in "'' Stairway To Lenin ''," part of a music video called ''The Orchestra'' (1990), directed by Zbigniew Rybczyński , and produced for PBS 's Great Performances , Canal+, and Japan Broadcasting Corporation . It is regularly shown on the Classic Arts Showcase channel.
- The ''Boléro'' was played in the background during the introduction monologue of 2003 Movie '' BASIC '', starring John Travolta , Connie Nielsen , Samuel L. Jackson , and directed by John McTiernan .
- The ''Boléro'' is featured in the 1956 Mexican comedy film "''El Bolero de Raquel''", starring Mario Moreno Reyes " Cantinflas " as a street shoe-cleaner (a ''bolero'', as they are called in Mexico).
- The Boléro is the opening and ending theme of the French Musical Les Uns Et Les Autres by Claude Lelouch directed in 1980 .
- Blue Man Group used to use ''Boléro'' as the Background Music for their " Twinkie Feast" sketch, in which they invite a woman from the audience to eat Twinkies with them. Once they moved from the Luxor to the Venetian in Las Vegas in September 2005, they changed the music to an original piece of their own. This change was later implemented in their other theatrical shows. Though it is still worth mentioning Bolero was the background music to this skit for fifteen years.
- The ''Boléro'' was originally played during the opening of 'The Legend of Zelda' video game for the NES. Copyright however prevented its use.
- The ''Boléro'' accompanied the ice dancers Torvill And Dean in the long program of their gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics , Sarajevo , Yugoslavia , which is still the only ice dancing performance ever to have received a perfect score from every judge.
- FIFA 2006 World Cup Final Draw ceremony featured a video clip having the ''Boléro'' as its background music.
- The ''Boléro'' has been rearranged and performed by many artists, including quotations in the chorus of Rufus Wainwright 's "Oh What A World.", and an Emerson, Lake, & Palmer version called "Abaddon's Bolero" on their Trilogy album.
- A heavy metal version of the song, called "Great Boleros of Fire", was the show-opening number for Meat Loaf .
- Jefferson Airplane used the ostinato snare pattern of the ''Boléro'' in its 1967 song "White Rabbit," in which the driving, hypnotic rhythm evokes the allure and effects of psychedelic drugs.
- ''Boléro'' was remixed by Frank Zappa and released on his album "The Best Band You Never Heard In Your Life" in 1995 as a live performance. The signature rhythm enters 4 minutes into the 5 minute piece.
- ''Boléro'' is the opening song in the Broadway production Blast! , and also serves as a reprise at the very end of the show. The snare drummer playing the signature rhythm begins in the middle of the stage under a spotlight and remains stationary as the rest of the ensemble moves around the drummer.
- A rendition of ''Boléro'' (composed by Ryuichi Sakamoto as a tribute to Ravel) is used in the Brian DePalma film Femme Fatale where Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (now simply known as Rebecca Romijn ) and Rie Rasmussen are making out in a restroom stall and during the closing credits.
- A 90 second rendition of ''Boléro'' can also be heard played by Joe Walsh during his days with the James Gang in their song "The Bomber". A lesser known group, Colosseum, put out their own version in the late 60's.
- A composition of Beck's Bolero appeared on Jeff Beck 's Truth . It featured the playing of both Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page , and the writing was credited to Page.
- Larry Adler used to perform the ''Boléro'' on his harmonica (mouth organ). Ravel even made Larry exampt from paying royalities on his performances of it.
- The sopranino saxophone called for in the orchestration, is a sopranino saxophone in 'F', the ones today are in 'Eb'. It is not known if an 'F' sopranino actually existed, or the player transposed the part. Today both the soprano saxophone and the sopranino saxophone parts are commonly played on the Bb soprano saxophone.
|
