Orchestral Tissue, Subordinate Arabesques, and Turning Inward in Maurice Ravel'sBoléro
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4390765 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gurminder Kaur Bhogal (Wellesley College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2020-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Music Theory Online (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1067-3040 • E-ISSN: 1067-3040 |
| Publisher | Society for Music Theory (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.30535/mto.26.2.2 |
| OpenAlex | W3037708442 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 17 |
In response to Maurice Ravel's puzzling description ofBoléroas "orchestral tissue without music," this article explores how he privileges timbre over techniques traditionally associated with musical development. Even as I acknowledge longstanding perceptions ofBoléroas a piece that is characterized by monotony and repetition, I show how Ravel relies on alternating decorative and arabesque melodies to highlight a parallel process of timbral variation. The role played by inward-turning subordinate arabesques is especially expressive given how they establish a timbrally competitive relationship with decorative themes, which escalates towards a moment of melodic disruption and formal collapse. Stylistic connections betweenBoléroand other contemporaneous works and idioms raise the question of whether, in the absence of music, timbral diversity allowsBoléroto function as the orchestration treatise that Ravel failed to complete
Aesthetics · Art · Linguistics · Literature · Melody · Musical · Orchestration · Symphony · Timbre · Visual arts · Diverse Musicological Studies · Music Technology and Sound Studies · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2022 (2) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |