Classical music meets the machine. Episode 23 - Boléro by Maurice Ravel

A steady beat and a catchy tune are unremarkable these days, but when Ravel wrote Boléro, repetition was radical. Did Ravel predict the future of popular music in a brilliant lightbulb moment? Or was he just being, well, a bit lazy? Is it deceptively complex or outrageously simple? Or both? What does Boléro tell us about how this eccentric French composer ticked? Let’s find out…
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Listen to the piece in full, and enjoy Classical Music.
Composer: Maurice Ravel
Work: Boléro
Performer: New York Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Year: 2010
Label: Sony

[ClassicsExplained]

If you want to see more Classics Explained episodes, please consider supporting us on Patreon. You can pretend you're a 17th century lord patronising a court musician.

[Pitts_not_Pitty]

Deceptive difficulty all over this piece. Just maintaining an even crescendo over 16 minutes is impressive. Ah man and the trombone solo 🤩

[davidbrewer]

I red that Ravel was so tired of people wanting to hear Bolero that he got angry and said something like "You know, I have written other things!"

[TristanMA]

Ravel's Bolero is, in essence, a backstory to Bizet's Carmen, and an Outer-Space ballet in the manner of Holst's Mars from The Planets.

[jwithy]

Babe, wake up. New classics explained just dropped

[Superphilipp]

The Horns, Celeste and Piccolo aren't playing in completely unrelated keys. The transpositions are derived from the overtone series .... similar to an organ mixture, as you mentioned.

[Yaleni-Sotelo]

Never stop making these They are absolutely And very helpful especially when preparing for orchestra.

[lopenash]

"His father was an engineer"
And suddenly everything falls into place

[pinkchanelgirl]

I LOVE another episode of classics explained. Benjamin is such a great narrator. I love his voice 😍😍😍

[kagitsune]

I've heard the dementia explanation too. I'm glad that there's more to it than that!

[Masterwoke]

Poor percussionist has to just play the same rhythm for 16 minutes over 100 times

[TheMovieCreator]

Funfact, Koji Kondo wanted to use Bolero as the title theme of the first Legend of Zelda game back in... checks notes... 1985/86!

[kern]

the smoke cloud at 0:25 is hilarious bc i know it would have been ***very painful*** to actually animate that

[thomasrinschler]

Thanks for pointing out the horns - celeste - piccolo section. It's one of my favorite parts, too, with how eerie it sounds. That and the trumpets coming in fortissimo near the end are the sections I most anticipate when listening to the piece.

[MyRegularNameWasTaken]

Some absolutely stellar animations here, beautifully abstract while telling the story of the piece perfectly.

[brianwilliams]

This is the best explanation of Bolero ever. A truly superb production. Well done.

[craigbrush]

Absolutely wonderful as always. Get this important content in schools.

[teodoragradinaru]

I guessed it!🎉 The image from community looked soooo iconic that made me think immediately about Ravel.😊

[TristanMA]

This is your second Ravel survey after his orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Ravel also did Mother Goose, Pavane for a Deceased Princess, Tombeu de Couperin, and La Valse. Ida Rubinstein performed the role of Zobeide in Fokine's version of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade.

[redbrian]

I admit it.... Torvill and Dean was MY first exposure to "Bolero". This was a very informative and entertaining video. Thanks.