# Similar to Ravel's Boléro



## Classicum (May 25, 2019)

What other classical pieces are there that are structurally similar to Maurice Ravel's Boléro? I don't mean it necessarily has to be similar in how it sounds, but that it's similar in the kind of repetitive structure that is continuous throughout the whole piece.

Which other pieces are there that are also like this?


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Yes. Starting about 8 minutes into the first movement of Shostakovich's "Leningrad" 7th Symphony there's the beginning of a Bolero-like snare drum that starts to build in a similar fashion. This is a Bolero influence that Shostakovich acknowledged and I believe it's very effective like a gathering march of soldiers.


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## Mifek (Jul 28, 2018)

Exodus by Wojciech Kilar:


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)




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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

There is _nothing_ quite like Bolero in the whole literature. To keep up that same tempo, same melody for such a length of time Ravel applied his gift at orchestration to make it work. As Ravel said, it's 15 minutes of orchestration without music. (It's also not really a bolero, but that's another story.)

There are some things that come close: The finale of Tchaikovsky's 2nd symphony repeats the same theme over and over with changes in orchestration that keep it moving. Glinka's Kamarinskaya is the prototype - one theme repeated with the colors changing on each repeat.


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## Griomo (Jun 14, 2017)

Big orchestra build-up, stately march verging into dance, with that one sudden harmonic shift: Schnittke's _Ritual_


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

The most similar which comes to mind is Khachaturian’s Gayane ballet - particularly the items to do with carpets or rugs. The repetitive patterns illustrate unfurling of rugs. The “Rug Weavers” movement shows influence of Bolero. Khachaturian said that apart from the traditional music of his native Armenia and other Soviet republics, he was most influenced by the French.

Similar in a broader sense:

Rachmaninov - Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos (Paques)
Arvo Part - Tabula Rasa (especially the second movement)
Graeme Koehne - Powerhouse: Rhumba for orchestra.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

The 3rd movement in Raff's 5th Symphony.






Poledouris "The Orgy" from the score to Conan the Barbarian.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

The final movement of "Sea Pictures" called "Force 3" by Unno Klami is as close to a Bolero rip-off as it gets.


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## tortkis (Jul 13, 2013)

Pierre Cochereau: Boléro sur un thème de Charles Racquet, for organ and percussion





Originally improvised by Cochereau then transcribed by his son. I found this piece in Beaming Music by Organized Rhythm.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

RICK RIEKERT said:


>


I'm not sure who stole from who but that is essentially identical to the last movement 'The Bells' of Gordon Jacob's *William Byrd Suite* OK, they both stole from Byrd - but did Orff acknowledge it?


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## hammeredklavier (Feb 18, 2018)

the rhythm kind of reminds me of the beginning of Johann Strauss II Emperor Waltz


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## Couchie (Dec 9, 2010)

Similar to Ravel's Bolero? You could just flush your toilet repeatedly.


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## Guitarfredo (Aug 7, 2013)

I am sorry to be forced to reopen this thread after a year since its abandonment but I have noticed an unforgivable omission; If there is a musical piece that is more similar, it is precisely Ruyichi Sakamoto's Bolerish, whose author does not hesitate to demonstrate it even with its suggestive title.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

Classicum said:


> What other classical pieces are there that are structurally similar to Maurice Ravel's Boléro? I don't mean it necessarily has to be similar in how it sounds, but that it's similar in the kind of repetitive structure that is continuous throughout the whole piece.
> 
> Which other pieces are there that are also like this?


Try any of the monadologie pieces by Bernhard Lang.


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## Guest002 (Feb 19, 2020)

Antonio Bertali's _Ciaconne_ has the same repetitive-with-minor-variations gig going on and is actually a lovely piece (and the Youtube I found for it isn't the best version I've ever heard, but is OK):






Also, a good Tarantella can be hypnotically-repetitive, too. This is one of my favourites:






It would be remiss of me, too, to neglect to point out that as well as Chaconnes, Passacaglias are all built on a repetitive bass. So you can perhaps guess which fine exemplar of the Passacaglia form I'm going to mention next:






(Jump to 17:37 for the Passacaglia).


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## Aurelian (Sep 9, 2011)

I have wondered if _Procession of the Sardar _was an influence in creating _Bolero_.


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## Iota (Jun 20, 2018)

tortkis said:


> Pierre Cochereau: Boléro sur un thème de Charles Racquet, for organ and percussion
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nice!

I very much like Ravel's original too.



Couchie said:


> Similar to Ravel's Bolero? You could just flush your toilet repeatedly.


You must have a wildly exciting toilet!


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

There's *Tubular Bells* by *Mike Oldfield*.

Originally released on LP as Tubular Bells, Part One and Tubular Bells, Part Two, the last third of Part One (17:00 to 25:31) features a repeated 10 measure phrase with a different instrument featured in each repetition similar to what Ravel did for Bolero (although it's 2:50 before Oldfield introduces the first solo instrument). Oldfield's Tubular Bells also has a repeated rhythmic pattern as accompaniment, just as Ravel has the 18-bar ostinato.

Of course, you could skip straight to 17:00 to hear it, or you could start at the very famous beginning, which was used as the theme for *The Exorcist*


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## geralmar (Feb 15, 2013)

The Main Theme to "Barabbas" (1961). Attributed to Mario Nascimbene; but Morricone was an assistant.


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Personally, I love Bolero - all the more when I see people falling over themselves to damn it - but it is surely a one-off. There is nothing like it and there probably should not be! The idea of repeating a theme with ever louder and more elaborate orchestration is also used by Shostakovich in his 7th but Shostakovich's intentions were surely very different and the superficial similarity to Bolero actually gets in the way of getting it.


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

Schnittke - Bolero


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## pianozach (May 21, 2018)

Just thought of another, although, again, it's in the progressive rock genre.

*Abaddon's Bolero* from *Emerson, Lake, & Palmer*

The Bolero pattern is played in 4/4


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