How It's Done: Ravel Boléro

One of the repertoire's true miracles of orchestration, Boléro has some surprises in store if you pay close attention. It's much more than the same tune repeated over and over. Ravel not only uses many unusual instruments, such as the oboe d'amore and a group of saxophones, but he combines the more usual instruments in extraordinary ways. Here's an exceptional example. Musical Excerpts courtesy of Ondine Records