The Story Of Ravel's Boléro | bolero m81
BeforeheleftforatriumphanttourofNorthAmericainJanuary1928,MauriceRavelhadagreedtowriteaSpanish-flavouredballetscoreforhisfriend,theRussiandancerandactressIdaRubinstein(1885-1960).TheideawastocreateanorchestraltranscriptionofAlbeniz’spianosuiteIberia.ButonhisreturnRaveldiscoveredthattheorchestrationrightshadbeengrantedtotheSpanishconductorEnriqueArbós.AlthoughArbósgenerouslygaveuptheserights,Ravelabandonedtheideaandsetaboutpreparinganoriginalscore.Ravelhadlongtoyedwiththeideaofbuildingacompos...
Before he left for a triumphant tour of North America in January 1928, Maurice Ravel had agreed to write a Spanish-flavoured ballet score for his friend, the Russian dancer and actress Ida Rubinstein (1885-1960).
The idea was to create an orchestral transcription of Albeniz’s piano suite Iberia. But on his return Ravel discovered that the orchestration rights had been granted to the Spanish conductor Enrique Arbós. Although Arbós generously gave up these rights, Ravel abandoned the idea and set about preparing an original score.
Ravel had long toyed with the idea of building a composition from a single theme which would grow simply through harmonic and instrumental ingenuity. Boléro’s famous theme came to him on holiday in Saint-Jean-de-Luz.