Bolero - Latin Music's Signature Style

Bolero - Latin Music's Signature Style

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The bolero, with its intricate rhythms, sophisticated lyrics and sensual beauty, has long been the signature style of Latin music. It defines like no other the essence of romanticism. Its timeless charm has captivated generations of listeners throughout the world, and its influence continues to grow even today.

The French impressionist composer Maurice Ravel might have been surprised to know that his 1928 ballet score Bolero would become one of the twentieth century’s most renowned works of musical art. It has been described as a work of “compositional magnificence” and garnered universal acclaim.

Ravel had originally been hired to orchestrate a piano suite by Albeniz, but his friend the Russian dancer Ida Rubinstein wanted him to compose an original ballet score. Despite the short deadline, he took up the challenge, writing Bolero in just five months.

Bolero begins with a two-bar, 24-note pattern played on the snare drum in an almost imperceptibly quiet dynamic (pianississimo). Then the beat gradually increases, reaching fff or fortississimo – a total of 5,144 drum strokes! The snare drum remains a constant presence through all of the 15-minute piece as Ravel inexorably builds on his simple theme, with harmonic and instrumental ingenuity.

In the end, the three distinct motifs are interwoven into an extraordinary musical fabric. This use of just three motifs is Bolero unprecedented in a work of comparable length. A Beethoven symphony, for example, can be filled with countless themes that are introduced and then variegated to a point where they are unrecognizable.

Whether accompanied by a vocalist or not, the key to a successful bolero performance is that the dancers must be in complete harmony with each other and with the orchestra. This requires an enormous amount of practice, especially if the dancers are not trained professionals. In a bolero, the dancers must also be able to convey deep emotions with their faces and bodies as well as with their hands.

For those of you who are not familiar with bolero, it is a genre of song that originated in eastern Cuba during the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. It is unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name and is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It can be heard all over the world, but is particularly popular in Latin America and Africa where it is used to accompany rumba dancing. One of the best known boleros is Besame Mucho, written by Consuelo Velazquez and performed by artists from all over Latin America and the world including Frank Sinatra and Luis Miguel.

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