"Bolero", Ravel and Cosmos

The masterpiece created by the composer Maurice Ravel, "Bolero", for the ballerina Ida Rubinstein, is the last meeting of his work with the symphony orchestra. The Spanish musical theme, developed in an independent work, famous for the whole world and for all time - "Bolero", Ravel created much wider in artistic design than a simple choreographic sketch. Although the ballerina received her share of fame, the further life of the symphonic painting gained much greater importance. Even the first "Spanish" work of Ravel - "Spanish Rhapsody" - not so grandiose luck. In "Bolero" Ravel not only avoided the impressionistic aesthetics, but also the unpretentious Spanish dance here is absent, in the inexorable rhythm of this music beats the course of the "big time" - the Cosmos, the Universe.

Building a work

One of the longest melodic themes in the history of world music - as many as thirty-four bars - persistent, unswerving, stubbornly repeating, tenaciously holds all this building that has grown to a universal size. By the way, this melody would not have fallen on the purely Spanish bolero. The pace is twice as slow as in the national bolero. Ravel astonished the music lovers: in this melody there is no culmination! But there are stops at different parts of the bar. But what kind of smoothness, earnings and gradualness, inexorable wavy, exceptional rhythmic expressiveness. The three main components of the construction are ostinato melodies, ostinato rhythmic accompaniment, single, without the slightest acceleration of the tempo. The voltage build-up is achieved due to dynamics and instrumentation.

Instrumentation

They start two small drums, gradually summoning the rest. At the end of "Bolero" Ravel shakes the audience by the fact that the same rhythmic accompaniment sounds already in the performance of not only all the drums, but also the woodwinds - flutes, oboes, clarinets - and brass winds - pipes, horns - String group! And here's another interesting feature: the strings are not soloed here! They mimic the sound of folk instruments - simple mandolins and guitars.

Dynamics

This Ravel crescendo is a great unifying force. It's only Beethoven and Rachmaninoff that can compare with the growth of orchestral power, and that's relatively. Terraxity is dynamics from Bach and only from him. Although, we must admit - crescendo, covering the whole work - here Ravel was much "steeper" than everyone.

Orchestral style

The miracle of orchestration in "Bolero" Ravel made thanks to the introduction of old and forgotten instruments in the symphony orchestra - celesta, small trumpet, saxophones and oboe d'Amur, which greatly diversified the timbre of sound. And the timbre was basically clean, not mixed, except for the episodes when the instruments of the same group are connected - to enhance the sound. The most sophisticated ear is amazed by its novelty of such music. Ravel "Bolero" was carved as if from a single block of marble - there's even no transitions from tonality to tonality. Only in the very culmination of the C-major, which seemed eternal and the best, a divine flash lit up the listeners in E-major. Like a cloud that captures the whole world, tutti suddenly pierces with the powerful and pure sound of four pipes, then trombones, percussion sounds ... and - everything. Apocalypse. However, the program content of this work is treated very widely - from striptease dance to the resistance of the patriotic forces of Spain to the enemy's threat. This depends on the level of perception of the listener.