Bolero is a Spanish dance in 3/4 time popular in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It originated from the seguidilla sometime between 1750 and 1772,[2] and it became very popular in Madrid, La Mancha, Andalusia and Murcia in the 1780s.[3][4] Bolero was performed as a solo or partner dance with a moderately slow tempo, accompanied by guitar and castanets, and with lyrics in the form of the seguidilla.
Sebastián Cerezo was credited by as one of the earliest and best dancers of the genre.[2] According to Zamácola y Ocerín, Cerezo danced slowly and his particular way of dancing marked the definitive transition from seguidilla to bolero (from voleo, cf. vuelo, "flight").[2] This original slow way of dancing was promoted by Murcian dancer Requejo around 1800 in response to the faster style of bolero dancing that had become popular over the years.[2] The dance became obsolete in the mid-19th century, but survived in an academic tradition known as the escuela bolera, which influenced the development of modern flamenco dancing. One of the palos (styles) of flamenco is derived directly from the dance, the seguidillas boleras. In the 20th century, flamenco's popularity led to the almost extinction of the escuela bolera, which continues to exist in Seville. The genre's legacy also lives in the works of many classical composers such as Maurice Ravel, whose most famous piece is named after the dance, Boléro.
During its heyday, the bolero became a popular dance in ballrooms across Spain and was performed by Spanish troupes abroad along with other dances such as the cachucha. Over time, many classical composers wrote pieces inspired in the genre:
Frédéric Chopin wrote Boléro solo piano (Op. 19) in 1834, but its rhythms are more that of the polonaise. He was a close friend of Pauline Viardot, the daughter of the famed Spanish tenor Manuel García, who had introduced the bolero to Paris.
Charles-Auguste de Beriot wrote a bolero in his concerto Scène de ballet (Op. 100), 1840s, for violin and piano (or orchestra), one of his most famous pieces.
Julián Arcas wrote several bolero pieces for guitar and greatly influenced both the bolero form and guitar playing in the context of classical music.[5]
Camille Saint-Saëns wrote a bolero for 2 voices and orchestra, El desdichado, 1871.
Moritz Moszkowski's wrote a bolero as the last of his first set of Spanish Dances (Op. 12), 1876.
César Cui's Bolero from 1881 was composed for solo soprano voice with accompaniment of orchestra or piano, and published with Russian, Italian, and French texts. The score is available at IMSLP/Petrucci.
Claude Debussy wrote a bolero in La Soirée dans Grenade, the second movement of Estampes, 1903.
Joe Morley wrote a bolero for banjo titled "El contrabandista" (c. 1920) after noted banjoist and composer Alfred Cammeyer published a bolero in 4 4 time for banjo. Morley composed his as a true bolero in 3 4 time.
Maurice Ravel wrote Boléro (whose working title was Fandango) as a ballet score commissioned by Ida Rubinstein in 1928, but it is now usually played as a concert piece. It has inspired other classical works such as Fumio Hayasaka's theme for Rashomon, 1950.
Richard Aaker Trythall wrote a bolero for four percussionists in 1979. It is based on the rhythm and structure of the traditional Spanish bolero. Trythall imagined the four percussionists as four dancers, intertwining their solos, duets, and trios with moments of group ensemble work in the same way a choreographer might have done.
John Serry Sr. composed his African Bolero for accordion and flute in 1950.
Keith Emerson composed his Abaddon's Bolero for orchestra and synthesizer in 1972.
Ryuichi Sakamoto composed Blu in 2014, for piano and orchestra. The piece starts with a dreamy piano melody that is followed by a four-minute bolero part.
Some art music boleros are actually based on the habanera, a Cuban adaptation of the French contredanse which was often featured in French opera and Spanish zarzuela.[6]
^Stevenson, Robert (October 1971). "El Melopeo Tractado de Musica Theorica y Practica Pedro Cerone". Journal of the American Musicological Society. 24 (3): 477–485. doi:10.2307/830283. JSTOR830283.
^Loyola Fernández, Jose 1997. En ritmo de bolero: el bolero en la musica bailable cubana. Huracan, Rio Piedras, P.R. p. 29.
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