150 jaar Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937): No more Bolero’s
In March, it will be 150 years since the birth of composer Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937). Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer. He is regarded as one of the foremost composers of the 20th century and, along with his older compatriot Claude Debussy, as the most important Impressionist in classical music (although he rejected that label), and as a precursor/initiator of Expressionism. His most famous work is the Bolero, particularly due to the film '10', a romantic comedy from 1979 starring Dudley Moore and Bo Derek. What do you know about Ravel?
Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937)
Maurice Ravel was born in Ciboure, a village near Saint-Jean-de-Luz on the coast of French Basque Country. He was of Basque descent on his mother's side. His father was an engineer who was born in Switzerland but held French nationality. In the year of Ravel's birth, the family moved to Paris, where his brother Édouard was born in 1878. Ravel received his first piano lessons at the age of seven and was admitted to the Paris Conservatory in 1889.
He did not complete his piano training. After his premature departure from the conservatory, he returned there in 1897 to Gabriel Fauré to take composition lessons. During his composition studies, Ravel made several unsuccessful attempts to win the Prix de Rome.
Nevertheless, Ravel began to make a name for himself as a composer, initially with piano music and songs, and later also with orchestral music. His early works include the short opera L'Heure espagnole (1907) and the Rhapsodie espagnole for orchestra (1907/8), both of which betray Ravel's fondness for Spain, and the famous Pavane pour une infante défunte (1909).
To watch the Russian Ballets In 1912, Ravel wrote the large-scale ballet Daphnis et Chloé by Sergei Diaghilev. In 1913, Ravel met Igor Stravinsky, with whom he adapted Mussorgsky's unfinished opera Khovanshchina.
During the First World War, Ravel served his country as a truck driver in the army, having been rejected for military service as a young man due to his small stature. Despite his rekindled patriotism, he kept his distance from pleas to stop performing Austrian and German composers. In 1916, Ravel had to return to France from Germany while ill. Shortly thereafter, his mother, with whom he had always lived, died, whereupon he moved in with his brother. After the latter's marriage, in 1921, he bought the villa Le Belvédere in Montfort-l'Amaury near Paris, where he would live until his death. The house is now a museum. In 1924, Ravel wrote Tzigane for violin and luthéal, an instrument presumed lost that was rediscovered in 1994.
The Child and the Spells (The Child and the Enchantments) is a lyrical fantasy in one act, composed between 1919 and 1925 in Monte Carlo. The composition was carried out in close collaboration with Colette, who wrote the script for this fantasy. Above the script, Colette wrote: Divertissement pour ma fille. L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, which features a variety of musical styles, is sometimes performed for orchestra only, as translating the rather complicated French text into other languages is difficult. Such a translation also often does violence to the author's original intention.
When the First World War broke out, Ravel lost many friends in the war. Ravel had a special way of honoring them. Tombeau de Couperin (the tomb of Francois Couperin (the great composer) is an ode to the French suite (a collection of dances). Each movement of this work is dedicated to one of the composer's friends who were killed during the First World War. With this work, Ravel wished to pay tribute more generally to the French harpsichord suite of the Baroque period, rather than specifically to Couperin himself. He did this by taking the structure of the Baroque suite as a starting point. The work was composed between 1914 and 1917, originally as a six-movement piano work. It was first performed on April 11, 1919, by Marguerite Long at the Salle Gaveau in Paris.
In 1928, he composed, among other works, the Piano Concerto in D for the Left Hand, “Concerto pour la main gauche”. This piece was written for Paul Wittgenstein (Ludwig Wittgenstein's brother), who had lost his right arm in the First World War. Ravel was very home-loving. However, in 1928, he undertook a major concert tour of the United States and Canada. In the same year, his most famous work, Bolero, was created, commissioned by Ida Rubinstein.
During his final years, Ravel was no longer able to write due to a neurological condition that has not been fully elucidated. He died on December 28, 1937, aged 62, in a Paris hospital. He had undergone experimental brain surgery but fell into a coma and died shortly thereafter. He was buried in the Levallois-Perret cemetery near Paris, where his parents were also buried. Despite several long-term relationships, Ravel never married and remained childless.
Bolero (1928)
The Bolero (or Boléro) is a ballet composed in 1928 by the French composer Maurice Ravel for the Ukrainian dancer Ida Rubinstein (Ballets Russes)The piece has characteristics of a bolero. It was an immediate success at the premiere on November 22, 1928, at the Paris Opéra, with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and a set by Alexandre Benois. The Paris Opera Orchestra was conducted by Walther Straram. Ernest Ansermet had originally been hired to conduct all performances of the ballet season, but the musicians refused to play under him.
Ravel called the piece musically devoid of content, yet it is known as one of his masterpieces. The Bolero consists of two themes played by different instruments each time. After two introductory measures by the snare drum, the first theme is introduced by a single flute, after which the entire orchestra gradually joins in, with a crescendo occurring in each successive fragment. Shortly before the end, a modulation takes place, in which Ravel moves from C major to E-flat major, thus emphasizing the ending. The piece lasts approximately 15 minutes. In addition to its intriguing orchestration, with orchestral instruments playing the theme in turn, the Bolero also became known for its rhythmic drone.
Film 10 (1979)
10 is a 1979 American romantic comedy written, produced, and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Dudley Moore, Julie Andrews, Robert Webber, and Bo Derek. The film was considered a trendsetting film at the time of its release and became one of the biggest box office hits of the year. The film follows a middle-aged man who falls in love with a young woman he has never met, leading to a comical chase and a meeting in Mexico.
At the end of the film, George (Dudley Moore) makes love to his wife Samantha (Julie Andrews) to the tune of the Bolero by Ravel. The role of Bo Derek propelled her to instant stardom and status as a sex symbol. Her beaded and braided cornrow hairstyle in the film was widely copied. The film also brought renewed fame to the single-movement orchestral piece Boléro by Maurice Ravel, whose music was still copyrighted at the time. As a result of the film, sales of Boléro generated an estimated $1 million in royalties, and Ravel briefly became the best-selling classical composer, 40 years after his death.
Boléro (2024) film
Boléro 'Le Mystère Ravel' is an epic biopic about one of the most famous French composers: Maurice Ravel. The genesis of his best-known composition, his Boléro, is illuminated in this tasteful film by director Anne Fontaine. Ravel's working methods and life are interwoven through his encounters with three women: the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein, whose commission provided the impetus for the Boléro; his patron Misia Sert; and his friend, pianist Marguerite Long.
This biopic follows choreographer Ida Rubinstein, who selects Ravel in the 1920s to compose the music for her next ballet. She wants something daring and sensual. When Ravel seems unable to put anything on paper, he delves back into his past. The reliving of his memories of old lovers and painful failures helps him create his greatest success: the Boléro.
No more bolero’s (1989)
No more bolero's is a single by Gerard Joling. The B-side is December in July. Both songs on this single were written by Peter de Wijn and Hans van Eijck. Joling sang them in an arrangement by Peter Schön. The orchestra was conducted by Benny Behr.
Video Gerard Joling – No more bolero’s (1989):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8EIztETZ2U
The song No more bolero's became Joling's biggest solo hit. The record brought the artist fame far beyond the national borders. At the end, the song leans on Maurice Ravel's Bolero. Joling recorded the song himself in various languages, including Spanish. Even South Africa was familiar with this song, as a South African cover appeared in 2011 under the title Mag ek jou vashou by George Meiring.
In March, it will be 150 years since the birth of composer Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937). So, please, lots of Boleros this year, but from real orchestras and not from Gerard Joling! The French postal service could not be left behind with a commemorative issue of Maurice Ravel (1875 – 1937). This time with a tie!
Video Gerard Joling – No more bolero’s (1989):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8EIztETZ2U
The song No more bolero's became Joling's biggest solo hit. The record brought the artist fame far beyond the national borders. At the end, the song leans on Maurice Ravel's Bolero. Joling recorded the song himself in various languages, including Spanish. Even South Africa was familiar with this song, as a South African cover appeared in 2011 under the title Mag ek jou vashou by George Meiring.
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