Ravel's Bolero
"There should be no misunderstanding about this work. It constitutes an experiment in a very special and limited direction, and should not be suspected of aiming at achieving anything different from, or anything more than, it actually does achieve...
... a piece lasting seventeen minutes* and consisting wholly of 'orchestral tissue without music' of one long, very gradual crescendo...
... There are no contrasts, and there is practically no invention except the plan and the manner of the execution."
You could be forgiven for thinking that this was taken from a savaging of the piece by a disgruntled critic - in fact the comments come from the composer himself!
The work is known by many, through its use as skating music and even through its use in the Dudley Moore film "10". The question remains, how many really know the work? These few words will, I hope, bring out some of the finer points of the piece.
There is a basic theme, heard nine times. Hardly the most original of ideas when baldly stated like that. So let's examine it in closer detail.
The key, for the most part, is C major. The tempo is indicated as Tempo di Bolero, moderato assai (crotchet=72). This is the opening tempo; There are no other tempo marks, so it should end at this tempo. The work is 340 bars in length; we should have twenty bars to the minute if Ravel's time keeping is accurate. With three beats to the bar, we could expect a metronome mark of "crotchet=60".
*Seventeen minutes? Most recordings do it quicker, for example the fastest I've found is Koussevitsky on Naxos at 13' 41" in his 1947 recording. Abbado takes it at 14' 25" in his 1985 recording, Karajan takes an almost leisurely 16' 08" on DG Originals from 1966.
There are two parts to the theme. After the opening on the side drum with pizzicato viola and cello, the theme enters on the flute in the fifth bar. This part is diatonic; the next section (B flat clarinet) is more chromatic.
(At one time Ravel thought about having two players for the side drum, with them alternating at each cue point. This idea was subsequently dropped and one player does most of the work, with the second joining in towards the end.) The string accompaniment is worth a look at the rhythm:
So the middle note in each bar is played only on the violas to give a different tone.
Following on from the opening flute, there is a short two bar interlude with the second flute echoing the side drum. The theme is next played by the B flat clarinet and for the interlude, the first flute relieves the second, with the harp reinforcing the rhythm.
The next solo comes from the bassoon, followed by the E flat clarinet. At the end of this solo (cue 4 - bar 75) the double basses and the second violins (divided) enter for the interlude and the harp takes a break. Next comes the alto oboe (Oboe d'amore); at the next interlude the french horn and first violins (divided) enter doubling the side drum rhythm before the theme is taken up by the first flute and the muted trumpet in C.
The next interlude (cue 6 - bar 111) sees the second trumpet taking up the rhythm with interjections from the flutes reinforcing the second and third beats in the bar. The first violins take a break and the second violins play in unison. The next solo comes from the B flat saxophone with a couple of slides suggesting a jazzy feel.
By the time of the next cue mark (cue 7 - bar 129) we find the oboes and cor anglais taking over from the flutes, and the first violins from the seconds. Enter the soprano saxophone. Worth noting is that at the end of this statement of the theme, the final low part is played on the B flat saxophone.
At cue point 8 (bar 147) the flute and french horn take the steady rhythm, with the reinforcing rhythm coming from the B flat clarinet, bassoons, harp and second violins. For the next statement of the theme, Ravel uses the daring tritonal combination of 2 piccolos; one playing in E and one playing in G, solo horn and celeste playing in C.
By the next cue mark (cue 9 - bar 165) things are complicated in the string section. First and second violins and violas are all divided into two. Cellos and double basses are in unison. Fourth horn and third trumpet are following the side drum. The woodwinds take the next statement - given to the oboe, alto oboe - playing in G, cor anglais and two clarinets, and in this form we reach the halfway point in the work.
Cue mark 10 is reached and the woodwind take a break. The first flute and the violas (still divided) now play the side drum theme in octaves arco. The solo trombone enters with the main theme and in its second bar there is a short upward glissando.
After two hundred bars in total (cue 11) we have a dynamic marking of forte; no less than nine players take the main theme now (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais, 2 clarinets and B flat saxophone.
At cue 12 (bar 219) the side drum is joined by two horns playing an octave apart and we get the entry of the timpani. Seven winds (piccolo, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets now take the main theme, accompanied by the bowing first violins (divided).
When cue 13 arrives (bar 237) the violins have a short break before the second violins join in with their colleagues. Both violin sections are divided and play the theme alongside the piccolo, flutes, oboes, cor anglais, b flat clarinets and b flat saxophone.
At the next interlude the first and second horns reinforce the side drum and there are interjections from the trombones and tuba before the violins resume with the piccolo, flutes, oboes, cor anglais and trumpet.
At cue 15 (bar 273) all four horns reinforce the side drum, there are interjections from the bassoons and double bassoon supposrting the lower strings, with the main theme carried by the other strings and most of the woodwind. By bar 285 the strings are divided into ten parts.
At cue 16 (bar 291) the second side drum enters, the rhythm is hammered out by the piccolo, flutes, horns, second violins, violas and half the cellos; oboes and clarinets carry the rhythm with pitch variations. The marking is ff during this interlude, leading into a massive statement of the theme on piccolo, flutes, saxophones, trumpets and first violins. It is worth pointing out the spread of notes played on half the divided strings - from the lowest notes to the highest on second violins, violas and cellos, the range is a double octave played pizzicato.
Cue 17 arrives (bar 309). Once again, two bars of the interlude played with the rhythm beaten by the upper woodwinds, four horns, harp and all the strings except the first violins. There is a subtle touch to observe which can easily be missed in performance; at bar 311 Ravel instructs the harp player to lower the B strings. The theme is given to the piccolo, flutes, saxophones, trumpets, first trombone (marked fortissimo) and violins.
At bar 325, two bars before cue 18, we are nearing the end of our marathon - only fifteen bars to go. The music is gearing up for the modulation into E major (not as much of a shock as it seems since we heard the theme in E major back on the picolo although that has almost literally been drummed out of the mind).
At cue 18 the modulation does occur. Prior to this the timpani have been playing C and G; now the E is heard. The change of key from C major to E major necessitates raising the pitch of G natural to G# in order to reinforce the E major, hence we find the G# on piccolo, flutes, oboes, harp and strings. At bar 335 Ravel wheels out his heavy artillery; bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam in turn. Above this trombone glissandi bray upwards eight times before the penultimate bar - downward figures on piccolo, flutes, saxophones, tru,pets and violins; upward figures on cor anglais and trombones and the rhythm is pounded out on clarinet, bass clarinet, bassoons, horns, tuba, percussion and lower strings. Most of the final bar is silent, except in performance when the audience applause starts immediately...
