A Beginner's Guide to Boléro by Maurice Ravel

We take a look at one of the most popular works of classical music: "Boléro" by Maurice Ravel. Learn how the work came to be, how it was constructed, and how it was received by audiences.
Introduction - 0:00
Ravel's Early Life and Education - 0:46
French Impressionism in Music - 2:48
Ida Rubinstein Commissions Ravel to Compose a Ballet - 3:46
Ravel's use of theme and variation - 4:28
Ravel was a renowned orchestrator - 6:17
How Ravel organized Boléro - 8:49
The rhythmic pattern that drives Boléro - 9:28
Boléro's first theme - 9:56
Boléro's second theme - 10:37
Ravel's use of Tenor Saxophone - 11:36
Ravel's use of the Harmonic Series - 12:20
Boléro's final variation - 13:04
Reception of Boléro by Audiences and Critics - 14:33
Closing thoughts - 15:00
Performances videos used:
- Bolero | Alondra de la Parra | WDR Symphony Orchestra: • Maurice Ravel - Bolero...
- Vitaly Pisarenko plays Ravel - Une barque sur l'ocean: • Vitaly Pisarenko plays...
- Maurice Ravel - Une barque sur l'océan (Orchestre de Paris, Mikko Franck): • Maurice Ravel - Une ba...
- Maurice Ravel: Le tombeau de Couperin • Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra: • Maurice Ravel: Le tomb...
- Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye - Lucas & Arthur Jussen: • Ravel: Ma Mère l'Oye -...
- Ma mère l'Oye (Mother Goose) / Maurice Ravel / James Gaffigan / Oslo Philharmonic: • Ma mère l'Oye (Mother ...
- Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun / Claude Debussy / James Gaffigan / Oslo Philharmonic: • Prelude to the Afterno...
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About me: I am a conductor, published composer, professional singer, sound engineer, and producer based in Los Angeles. I love classical music and want to help as many people as possible learn more about it.
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Sources:
- A Ravel Reader: Correspondence, Articles, Interviews (amzn.to/3pYs9Kt)
- Ravel: Man and Musician (amzn.to/3dOGKFh)
- The Cambridge Companion to Ravel (amzn.to/3dWgI3a)
- Masterworks of 20th-Century Music: The Modern Repertory of the Symphony Orchestra (amzn.to/3PIHrgv)
- A History of Western Music (amzn.to/2VfIzCi)
- Choral Repertoire (amzn.to/3locFhJ)
- Choral Music of the 20th Century (amzn.to/3xliG0W)
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Intro Music: Short Ride in Fast Machine (John Adams) - www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJvni...

[@KeepitClassical]

Music found in this video: Gnossienne No.5 - amzn.to/3pD9ovJ Prelude a L'Apres Midi D'un Faune - amzn.to/3KfWXiR Boléro - amzn.to/3AE9A49 Une barque sur l’ocean & Ma Mére L’Oye (for piano) - amzn.to/3Coww8U Une barque sur l’ocean (for orchestra) - amzn.to/3wrM33Q Ma Mére L’Oye (for orchestra) - amzn.to/3AIe6i9 Le Tombeau de Couperin (for orchestra) - amzn.to/3CqhkrI

[@livictori]

The greatest piece to explain life

[@gg4gb1914]

The Reason I LOVE Bolero Is. LESS IS MORE. Thats the beautiful thing about life's little secret. Less Is More

[@davidharkins8880]

As a ‘recent subscriber’ to your channel , I simply wanted to thank you for broadening and further developing my love of this genre of music. David 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Belloqs]

Excellent analysis. Bolero definitely inspired many of the minimalists. Reich and Glass to name two.

[@martinbrisebois1831]

I guess I've started my own classical journey as Matthew was not even born, but wow, what a stellar reintroduction to works I love so much.

[@williamharberts5514]

I loved your analysis, more for covering the music than covering the composer. I've always loved Bolero but never had much of an idea why nor how it was constructed. I always thought that it would be among the hardest classical pieces for a conductor to control. It feels like it would run away from you. Think perpetual motion machine rolling downhill. Now if I could just figure out exactly when the kettle drums come in. They slip in so smoothly with the plucked basses that I can't tell exactly when they come in. They are simply suddenly there. Count me as a new subscriber.

[@schnabeltier516]

Super interesting video, thank you!

[@alexandras4651]

Wonderful video, thank you!

[@valentinbetourne1963]

You make such great and interesting content! Keep that up, looking forward to learn more and more about classical music thanks to you!

[@tacovandijk8967]

Just beginning to listen to classical music and this helps a lot so keep them coming,no preference not yet anyway.

[@johnlee3508]

Love this video...Just listen to Bolero live (Kansas City Symphony conducted by Michael Stern)

[@haydenbutler2223]

Great work!

[@kjmav10135]

I am coming to your content late, and I love it! Thank you for what you have produced!

[@fantastiskchow8830]

Love this!!!!!

[@spec0h632]

Thank you! This video was so insightful and interesting!

[@redwoodprosth]

Enjoyed your video. And learned a lot. Thank you for the visual at 8:35. I found that helpful

[@otaviopmartins]

Awesome

[@robinhillyard6187]

Excellent video. I’ve always thought the same thing about it being an early (the first?) minimalist piece.

[@matthewleary3329]

I would greatly enjoy a video like this about Handel's Royal Fireworks music, any of Beethoven's symphonies or piano sonatas, Grieg's Peer Gynt Suite, or anything by Tchaikovsky.

[@KeepitClassical]

Oooo, this is giving me some good ideas.

[@hukes]

Please do Carmina Burana!

[@hannahchristinah]

5:50 : insert 'Ratatouille' scene here.

[@FLOJo83]

I will always request Mahler! Great videos

[@dsm2240]

Very informative, but a discussion about the strenuousness of the snare drum part would have been interesting.

[@chessematics]

Great video. Came from reddit

[@safid6420]

Great explain, really enjoy it. Could you choose other master piece of different composer to explain them? Thx 👍

[@KeepitClassical]

Stay tuned. That's my next video I'm working on rn

[@kfleetwood]

Curious why an analysis of the structure and music development of this piece should leave out any analysis of the ostinato of the snare drum and support instruments. Other than that, I enjoyed the talking points.

[@fendipxx]

I was one of the students at zora neale hurston elemantry! Great Show

[@KeepitClassical]

It was so fun to sing with you all!

[@r4chdm]

What's the name of the piano song passage played at 2:15?

[@sullivanspapa1505]

Without a doubt anything by Vivaldi…please!

[@valerietaylor9615]

Bolero is a fun piece, but my favorite pieces by Ravel are Le Tombeau de Couperin and Alborada del Gracioso.

[@bijanjan100]

I think bolero is an excelente example of the medieval practice of two melodies played in repeated sequences, in which the first melody is played and then repeated, followed by The secomd one and then repeated

[@bryanhyde8850]

Claire De Lune would be my request, if there were only one piece of music I could listen to for the rest of my life that would be it.

I think impressionism in music refers more with the kind of feeling it leaves with the listener or the viewer... that kind of soft, puffy, blurred feeling that impressions leaves... which is kind opposite of what expressionism is... that kind of sharp, intensely visceral feeling... But I'm just speaking from my own perspective...

[@galenspikesmusic]

Dusting off the cobwebs and watching analysis videos on this piece because I realized something I've been working on has taken a very Bolero turn. Great vid.

[@davidhartley3435]

Inspiration of Ravel's Bolero came from ballet dancer, nude portrait model, Ida Rubenstein. She commissioned the piece and it was first performed in 1928. It is an erotic piece because of its repetiveness and 2 melodic structures. It is one of the most sexiest classical music pieces. Ravel couldn't decide to do it 3/4 or 4/4, to allow it to drag the repetive soloists and theme. The "orgasmic" crashes can be heard at the finale of the piece. When it was first performed in 1928 in NYC, it was reported that a woman was shouting in the audience "This is perverted garbage!" When the conductor told Mr. Ravel backstage what had happened, he said well, I guess she's the only one that understood the piece.

[@paulaloeb4375]

❤❤❤‼️🎶

[@zahzahzee]

Come back to posting!

[@KeepitClassical]

Working on the next one as we speak...

[@zahzahzee]

@@KeepitClassical Awesome! Can't wait!

[@hukes]

1:09 I hear "strong independent" and my stomach starts churning.

[@brianwilson49]

Symphonies of wind instruments - Stravinsky. Dieu parmi nous - Messiaen.

[@evitaaslanidou6150]

Reverie by Debussy

[@LeondeLure]

Ida Rubinstein was Russian.

[@KeepitClassical]

Ida Rubinstein was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine

[@KeepitClassical]

​@@martiglesias60 ...and California is part of the US, but it's still accurate for me to call myself a Californian.

[@corrinneloudon525]

Thank you for this. I have always hated this piece but can now appreciate the way I which it was crafted. Still dislike it 😔

[@davidrummel133]

@9:07 yep, that's why I've come to really dislike Bolero to the point of it being intolerable. My wife just cranked it while doing the dishes and I wanted to jump out of the window. Seemingly endless crescendo and when it finally hits it's pretty damned unsatisfying.

[@lamodedepinktag]

Wonderful video, thank you!