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Ravel’s Bolero
Boléro is a one-movement orchestral piece by French composer Maurice Ravel. Originally composed as a ballet, the piece, which premiered in 1928, is arguably Ravel’s most famous musical composition. It was also one of his last works before illness forced him into retirement.
Boléro is written for a large orchestra. An average performance will last around 15 minutes, with some recordings extending as long as 18 minutes. The original version by Ravel took 17 minutes 6 seconds. It can be done quicker; below you can find a 90-second rendition.
Bolero has been adapted for smaller orchestras, and even solo instruments, by many other artists, and the score has been used in several films, including “10″ (with Bo Derek) and “Les uns et les autres” by Claude Lelouche.
Ravel’s estate still owns copyright on the work, and has on numerous occasions banned “unorthodox” use of Bolero. For example, the estate objected to Frank Zappa’s treatment of Boléro on his 1991 live album The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, and has forced omission of the song from the European release of the album. (The video is shown below.)
Another famous example of using Boléro was when British ice dancers Torvill and Dean skated to Boléro in their gold medal-winning performance at the 1984 Winter Olympics, which is still the only ice dancing performance ever to have received a perfect score from every judge. The piece is so well known in the skating world from this use that it has become a taboo piece of music, since its use usually garners criticism and comparisons to the performance of Torvill and Dean. Their performance is shown below.
Bolero is sometimes jokingly referred to as “the world’s longest crescendo”. Whatever it’s length, it is one of my absolute favorite pieces of music.
Enjoy the selection of Bolero performances below!
Ravel’s Bolero on Wikipedia | Maurice Ravel on Wikipedia
The Orchestral Version, with the Berliner Philharmoniker, conductor Daniel Bahrenboim (1998). Parts 1 (7:08) and 2 (8:19)
The Ballet Version, choreographed by Maurice Bejart. Dancers: Elisabeth Ros et Octavio Stanley. Parts 1 (10:02) and 2 (5:12)
The Weird Version, played by Stringfever: four musicians on a single bright red 5-string electric cello (2:57).
The Mexican Film Version. In El Bolero de Raquel, actor-comedian Mario Moreno Cantinflas makes a mash of Maurice Ravel as he crashes a nightclub stage in this 1957 Mexican comedy about a kind-hearted but mischievous bootblack. The dancer is Elaine Bruce. (6:17)
The Animated Version. A Russian animation film about enriched spirituality by Ivan Maximov (5:29)
The Forbidden Version. Frank Zappa’s “Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life” playing the version the Ravel estate didn’t want you to hear. Live recording 1988 (6:11)
The Olympic Version. Torvill and Deanat at the 1984 Olympics, where they won gold. The quintessential ice dance, the only one to score 6.0 from all judges. (5:30)
The Guitar Version. French guitarist Claude Bourbon, aka The Frog With The Happy Blues plays a mesmerizing stylized version. (10:47)
The Vocal Version. Korean opera singer Kimera performs in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow with The Bolshoi Orchestra and Ballet. (3:43)
The Turbo Version. The Japanese Vanilla Mood ensemble quartet races through Bolero in 1:31.
Comments
Comment from thomas lehnert
Time: August 12, 2007, 1:02 am
this is a piece of music i’ve always loved. coupled with the olympic skaters, it brought tears to my eyes. considering how vulgar everyday living has become, this is truly inspirational. it’s amazing what we humans are capable of without guns in our hands and political objectives in our mouths.
Comment from Bear
Time: September 4, 2007, 10:03 pm
All you are missing is the “Ten” version. The version from the movie “Ten” with Bo Derrick, not the world’s greatest actress. But quite stunning at the time they made the movie. Plus the movie had no guns or political objectives.
Comment from Darryl
Time: September 8, 2007, 6:03 am
Stanley Jordan made a really trippy version which is even longer than the original but there may not be a video of it
Comment from schmoo
Time: September 8, 2007, 5:21 pm
Khan did a really lovely ambient remix of it several years ago called Sexy Bolero, so lovely, really lost. on Home Entertainment i think?
Comment from B. Burger
Time: September 11, 2007, 3:16 pm
There’s also the “Drummer Boy” version of Bolero, where the singer sings the lyrics to The Little Drummer Boy, to the music of Bolero. I have heard a French version, and it actually sounds pretty neat.
Comment from rolf den otter
Time: September 13, 2007, 12:01 pm
Thanks for linking the Ravel youtube clips….
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Rolf
http://homepages.ipact.nl/~otterhouse
(my classical lp->mp3 hobby page, updated every friday)
(my classical music youtube channel)
Comment from DEDÉ
Time: October 3, 2007, 3:12 am
AI QUE LOUCURA ,ADOREI,MUITO BOM,DEZ
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