Christopher Webber described Ravel's Bolero as:

>a daring essay in Spanish-Moorish "alhambrismo" concentrating
>on one emotional state and brooding on it obsessively, a virtuoso
>demonstration of the sensual power of sound timbres, rather than a
>finely wrought compositional essay in the mainstream Western tradition.

I'm reminded yet again of the possibly apocryphal story about a
performance of it conducted by Toscanini who asked Ravel, who was in
the audience, for his opinion.  He replied that he thought it too fast.
Toscanini remarked that if it was too slow, it would be boring.  Ravel
said that it was meant to be boring.

I have tried and failed to like this piece.  Even before I read the
above story, I thought of it as Ravel's practical joke.  A wet and frosty
antipodean winter makes it hard to conjure up the ambience of the Alhambra,
as Christopher appears to suggest.  On the other hand, I can happily
listen to the incessant repetitions Shostakovich's 7th because I have
some conception of what he was on about.  In either case, I imagine
percussionists find more appeal in having root canal work done.

Richard Pennycuick
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