Here is my arrangement of the famous “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel (1875-1937). In Drop D-tuning. All bassnotes are open strings!
Boléro was given its first performance at the Paris Opera on November 20, 1928. The premiere was acclaimed by a shouting, stamping, cheering audience in the midst of which a woman was heard screaming: “Au fou, au fou!” (“The madman! The madman!”). When Ravel was told of this, he reportedly replied: “That lady… she understood.”
In a later interview, he said: “I am particularly desirous there should be no misunderstanding about this work. It constitutes an experiment in a very special and limited direction and should not be suspected of aiming at achieving other or more than it actually does.” Yet although Ravel considered Boléro one of his least important works, it has always been his most popular.
Level: 3
Pages: 3 (4 pages incl. cover)