Ravel's Bolero

This is Ravel's Bolero.



You can hear, even in the opening few bars, the repetition of musical phrases. We call these motifs. The melody copies itself a lot. Even if you can't tell how the melody repeats, check out that snare drum!

Ravel suffered from degenerative brain disease. Scientists aren't exactly sure which ones he suffered from, but they were there. Dementia seems to be a popular theory.

Listen -- do you hear how different instruments pass the melody around? The different voices instruments have is called timbre. Scientists think that Bolero's obsession with different timbres may have something to do with the degradation of Ravel's left hemisphere. The right hemisphere is where timbre is processed.

You can read more about Ravel's brain disease and the effects on his music here.

A woman suffering from a degenerative brain disease called primary progressive aphasia became so obsessed with Ravel's Bolero that she had to paint the work. You can see the painting HERE and see an explanation of the painting as well. (All caps because I don't want you to miss the link. It's amazing!)