*1063 - bolero again

The actual orchestral piece, Bolero, is infinitely intriguing to me because it was not meant to be infinitely intriguing. The entire piece is based on a phrase (built upon the Thump ThuThuThu Thump ThuThuThu Thump Thump of a snare drum) that is passed through the orchestra, played by different instruments a total of almost 20 times in repetition, with no development besides adding more and more instruments. Ravel himself was much surprised at the success of his piece, saying that it was an experiment within a limit with no form, no development, no modulation, no contrasts, no invention, a piece consisting wholly of orchestral tissue and no music.

Still, it must be the insistent quality and the constant and unwavering crescendo and the way each instrument gave each of the same 20 phrases a different quality that kept us engaged when we watched (listened?) to this piece a few months back at the symphony.



But I thought this Pink Martini version was exceptionally fun (true, it only loosely follows the original). But then, I must be biased, because I have always adored Pink Martini!