Bolero: Klavier Solo

Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) is often considered, after the death of Debussy in 1918, to be the leading French composer of the 1920’s and 30’s. Earlier in his career, he had caused consternation in the highly conservative pre-war French musical establishment, with his unmistakable and highly original style.

His most famous work is his Bolero, which marks the pinnacle of his compositional career. Commissioned as a single-movement orchestral ballet in 1928 by Ida Rubenstein, Ravel himself is said to have commented on it by saying: 'I've written only one masterpiece...Unfortunately there's no music init.'

Bolero has been re-arranged many times, most notably for Torvill and Dean in their world-record ice skating routine. This arrangement is for solo Piano.