RAVEL'S 'BOLERO'

I usually hate it when a person tries to turn me onto a song, or a band that they feel strongly about, because it’s often a miss. And then I feel awkward for having disappointed the person. And I feel like I ‛failed to get it’, and ‛obviously the person is more hip than me because it’s so obviously a big thing to them so why can’t I see it’ etc.

Nevertheless, I’m going to recommend a fantastic song, that I’m sure you all know and I probably don’t have to sell it to you but I want to anyway ...

If you haven’t heard Ravel’s ‛Bolero’, find it, play it LOUD, preferably in an Ipod so the song screams into your skull and fills it up.

Okay, if you’re not quite like me, and don’t have a penchant for blowing your brains out with music ... just ... please ... find the CD, and play it at your preferred volume.

I have my ( boyfriend’s ... but I’ve taken it over) Ipod plugged into my ears right now as I type this. I’ve been listening to Whitestripes, but I’m about to set it to ‛Bolero’, with the volume as high as it will go, and listen to it, so I can type my thoughts as I feel them.

To really 'get' this post, you need to have 'Bolero' playing as you read. Otherwise it might come across as dry, you might not get it at all. I'm just letting you know....

Here I go ...

It begins gently, with few instruments. There’s a beat I can feel, but the music at this point is very smooth, like liquid honey.

Different instruments join in, each in their turn, and add to the piece. Some of the instruments are piercing my ears, even though the song is still in its quiet, beginning stage. I have to press my eyes closed.

I can’t help but feel that as each instrument comes in at the appointed time, the player feels like a star. “This is my part, here I go!”

And the drummer keeps rattatatatting on his drum.

The music grows louder with each pass. Now I hear the violinists plucking. My hair stands on end. I feel like crying. How proud the violinists must be ... imagine them lifting their hands in unison, and ... at the exact, correct time, beginning to pluck at the stings.

All of the orchestra playing their hearts out, the music swelling. They must be feeling absolutely glorious. The conductor is magnificent as he leads them.

It’s booming now. Roaring into my head. The drums, the violins, the horns. It is truly heartbreaking.

If I was holding your hand now I would break the bones I’d be squeezing so hard.

Louder now. It can’t possibly get any louder, but I know it will. I feel like screaming.

What a tremendous and profound piece of music.

At the end, when the horns blow their incongruous blasts, and the violins reach their amazing crescendo, and the piece crashes to the ground (that’s what the ending sounds like to me), I feel like I’m about to have a heart attack. But it’s Great! It’s Fantastic!

I have to believe that at the conclusion of this piece, all the players flew out of their chairs and screamed with joy. How could they not?