Maurice Ravel - Boléro

Описание: "Boléro" is a one-movement orchestral piece by Maurice Ravel (1875–1937), originally composed as a ballet commissioned by Russian actress and dancer Ida Rubinstein; the piece premiered in 1928 at the Paris Opéra. Boléro is "Ravel's most straightforward composition in any medium"; the music is in C major, 3/4 time, beginning pianissimo and rising in a continuous crescendo to fortissimo. It is built over an unchanging ostinato rhythm played on one or more snare drums that remains constant throughout the piece.
The melody is passed among different instruments: flute, clarinet, bassoon, E-flat clarinet, oboe d'amore, trumpet (with flute not heard clearly and in higher octave than the first part), tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, horn, piccolos and celesta, oboe, English horn and clarinet, trombone, some of the wind instruments, first violins and some wind instruments, first and second violins together with some wind instruments, violins and some of the wind instruments, some instruments in the orchestra and finally most but not all the instruments in the orchestra (with bass drum, cymbals and tam-tam). The first melody descends through one octave, the second one descends through two octaves; the bass line and accompaniment are initially played on pizzicato strings, mainly using rudimentary tonic and dominant notes. The theme is constantly reorchestrated, leading to a variety of timbres, with a steady crescendo. Both themes are repeated a total of eight times. At the climax, the first theme is repeated a ninth time, then the second theme takes over and breaks briefly into a new tune in E major before finally returning to the tonic key of C major.

Performers: Charles Dutoit & Montreal Symphony Orchestra.