And not just kids; it is widely used in many musical styles and periods.
The attractiveness of ostinati for composers is easy to understand; you can generate a lot of material from a relatively short musical idea, and, if you do it well, audiences may respond well to the music.
With the advent of computer-notation software, and, more specifically, the "copy" and "paste" commands in those programmes, it has become extremely easy to use ostinati in compositions. And, with programmes like GarageBand, which comes bundled with every Mac computer, you don't even need any musical knowledge to write loop-based music; in this context, "loop" and ostinato mean the same thing.
The downside of repetition, however, is that too much can make a composition overly predictable, unless the composer finds ways of varying, interrupting, growing, evolving, or otherwise adding interest to repeated patterns; music that is overly predictable can lose the listener's interest.
An example of how to successfully repeat an idea to an almost absurd degree is Ravel's Boléro. It uses the two-bar rhythmic ostinato figure below throughout the work; this two-bar rhythmic unit never stops repeating until the work's (very loud) conclusion, about sixteen minutes later:
There is even further repetition within this two-bar ostinato: The rhythm on beat one is used on the first two beats of each bar; four of the ostinato's six beats are identical. This is repetitiveness ad absurdum, and I won't stand for it!!! [Just kidding, of course; the piece is awesome.]
The above pattern is repeated 339 consecutive times in Boléro (yup, I counted), which means that the rhythm on beats one and two of each bar is heard 1,356 times.
That's a lot of repetition!
One can argue that the uninterrupted repetition of the same short rhythm for sixteen minutes in a composition is a bit much – or a lot much – but Boléro is Ravel's most popular piece, so clearly, millions of people have no issue with it. Indeed, its popularity may in part be due to this rhythmic ostinato!
So, the question I have for you is this: What makes it work? What does Ravel do to keep our interest despite the 339 ostinato repetitions? Why do audiences cheer enthusiastically following the conclusion of the work, rather like sports fans cheering an exciting overtime win by their favorite team, instead of standing up to boo the repetitiveness?
I once listened to a radio documentary on Ravel's Boléro in which orchestral musicians were asked to give their thoughts on the work. Many said that they don't look forward to performing it because they perform it so often, there is such a high degree of repetitiveness, and, in some cases, once the piece starts they have to wait an extremely long time before they get any notes to play. However, once rehearsals begin, they gradually feel their resistance melting and become ensnared by the hypnotic power and beauty of the work, to the point where they feel like standing up and cheering along with the audience after reaching the triumphant final chord.
Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Here's a performance of Boléro, conducted by an unshaven man with a toothpick instead of a baton, if you wish to have a listen:
Posts
25 comments:
As pervasive as the ostinato rhythm is in the piece, it does not tire one's ear because it isn't the only focus at any given point. It both fills in gaps between interjections from oboe, bassoon, flute, trumpets and eventually whole sections as well as provides support and a rhythmic drive to the melodies during their solos. The fact at that it begins very quietly and grows over a very long period of time also allows for the rhythm to be heard in different timbres and qualities as played by different instruments/sections. The tune that also pervades the entire work is also super catchy, and the repetition of both this melody by different instrumentation and the rhythm seems to fit together and grow naturally.
It is amazing how Ravel is able to use timbre, color and dynamic range to make one small idea sound engaging for 17 minutes! Another thing that can be manipulated in "ostinato-like patterns" is the rhythm/length of the ostinato. While by definition, it is a repeated motif, small rhythmic changes can bring much interest in repetitive pieces. Look no further than Philip Glass... a good example is the Mr. BOJANGLES section of Einstein on the Beach. The violin has a constantly repeating pattern pretty much throughout the entire movement but there are notes/beats added and subtracted along the way, giving the music an extra sense of urgency, surprise and interest.
I think it would be a great exercise for everybody to at least try to write a "Bolero" just to experiment with orchestration and color!
I am immediately drawn in, as a percussionist, to the snare drum in this work. This is a very famous example of a snare part that requires a lot of stamina and focus. In fact, stick company Vic Firth makes drumsticks called SD2 - Bolero, literally designed for playing this piece, along with other instances of light orchestral playing, so it really is no joke that this snare part has captured a lot of attention of percussionists and even drum stick manufacturers!
Regarding the piece in it's entirety - yes, there is indeed a lot of repetition. The ostinato for me becomes quite boring to hear yet I can see how it could be much more engaging to play since it requires so much intricate attention. Ravel takes the melodic motif in this piece and shapes it in every which way, sharing it among various instruments, embellishing its thematic structure, etc. This is how I believe he engages listeners. The piece also builds gradually, for a long, long time, so there is also something being anticipated in that regard. For me, it is not the most exciting work ever - I listened to the clip for about 4 minutes until I decided to go ahead with writing a comment and turn off the music. However, I can definitely picture myself enjoying playing the snare drum in the piece for the challenge, and perhaps upon further analysis of the melodic aspects of the work, could find interesting discoveries which could further spark my interest in the piece.
I agree with Robert's comment in that much of the musical interest of Bolero comes from the reorchestration of the same material. I think also that in an ostensibly counter-intuitive way that a lot of the interest in listening to music from this comes from the lack of change. Or perhaps a more positive way to put it is the extremely slow pace in which the music unfolds. Especially if you look at minimalist composers such as Glass, the music is meant to put you in a sort of trance. If you look at Bolero from the perspective of the time in which it was premiered, the idea of an ostinato for 16 minutes was extremely novel.
Furthermore, I think the strength of intent behind music like this elevates the experience of listening to it. For Bolero, Ravel wanted to explore the possibilities of making the most out of a single idea. Knowing this, I listen to the piece with much more of a focus on extremely subtle changes and I am given 16 minutes to ponder the seemingly limitless possibilities that can be borne out of a single musical idea. Other than being a very well written piece (writing this feels like an understatement, but I digress), I think the intent behind the writing is what distinguishes Bolero from some chum who copy and pastes on finale.
As a trombone player, there are many jokes with Bolero. Some people even say Bolero is the trombones most glorious piece with the beautiful melody and the range that makes the trombone so amazing.
I am actually just realizing that the rhythmic pattern used in Bolero is very similar to a bagpipe piece I know, Highland Cathedral. Even though the piece does not use the same techniques in Ravel's Bolero, such as re-orchestration or tone colour, it somehow still catches my ear and makes me entranced.
Ah Bolero. This piece has haunted my dreams for four years now. I have always had the ostinato and melody stuck in my head. But when it comes down to it, the piece is rather well done, congrats Ravel. Just because there isn't very much going on in this piece layer-wise, there is still plenty going on musically. Considering how the entire piece is just one big build up to the final melody that is impressive. Writing minimalistically is very tough, since every note you write has to be perfect and have intention. I would love to try and sit down and try to write a minimalist piece like this or that of Max Richter's music. I probably wouldn't get very far before I went insane.
I don't like Bolero... there. I said it. I find the ostinato boring. In fact I find most ostatinatos boring, especially sixteen minutes of it. Part of it probably comes from my early days as a cellist in school orchestra, being forced to play the same four notes over and over in the all too well known Cannon by Pachabel. What made it more outrageous was the fact that the viola had a better and more interesting part than I did. Although, i just spent about a hundred words ragging on the idea of the ostinato, I can see while people enjoy them, they are simple. Most ostinatos (at least the popular ones) dont require a whole lot of theoretical and compositional knowledge to undertand. This makes them more accesible to listeners. People often enjoy what they can understand. Whereas not as many people might enjoy or understand unity within the tone row choiced of Weberns music.
Interesting topic! Ostinatios are very effective. I think they often either effectively ruin or effectively make a piece. I enjoy many pieces with ostinati, however I think they should be used sparingly and not simply for the joy of copying and pasting 339 times! I agree, pieces containing ostinatos are often predictable, however when writing for a relaxed audience or children it might be just the thing the composer needs because it will allow the listener to follow loosely without paying too much attention. Also, I love the toothpick!
I actually really like ostinati and I think they have a bad rap. Their repetitive nature ensures that there is always something familiar present aurally, and its hypnotic effect allows other musical ideas to develop in a way that they couldn't under normal circumstances. When listening to music with an onstinato, I imagine an image that is very blurry, and as more elements are incorporated onto the ostinato, the picture begins to focus. As the orchestration gets thicker and the musical content becomes less straight forward (either harmonically or melodically), it never feels like a different picture because the ostinato unifies the section.
However, I do have to admit that playing ostinati are not fun at all and can be very physically demanding. In the first movement of Shostakivich's Leningrad Symphony, the snare ostinato goes on for over 300 measures (like Bolero). In the score, they even suggest having 2-3 snare player rotate playing since it requires an insane amount of focus. With regard to musicians' distain for this kind of music, I sympathize with the fact that that players may not enjoy having to focus on 2 measures of rhythm for 20 minutes or waiting 200 measures to play. Physical burdens aside, I have very little sympathy for people complaining about a boring line. Sometimes you have to play very repetitive part in a bigger plan for the it to be executed well.
The power of a good ostinato is quite remarkable. They're also incredibly malleable (meaning so much possibility for variation within), like a seed that can infinitely grow, OR, allow other things to grow out from it. Often times they can feel like a foundation, or a blanket sound that has a feeling of perpetual motion. With that laid down on the bottom, lots of other things can be effectively placed on top of it, but they can unfold slowly, without there being a stagnant feeling because of that hypnotic feeling of forward motion. If you don't do anything with it then YES, it WILL be boring. In Boléro, Ravel is constantly variating the orchestration, and really the entire piece is like one big crescendo. Gradually he makes the orchestration more dense, more instruments are given the melody, until eventually we hear it in multiple sections and quite forcefully in the brass at the end, giving it this grandiose feel. Ravel manages to make the piece always feel like it's building to something, so the listener is always wanting the next step.
Ostinati are also major tool in film music. If I just mention Hans Zimmer, can we all agree that he uses ostinati like it's going out of style (but it never does). Say what you want about Hans, but he's one of the smartest film composers to ever work in the business. He knows how to use ostinati incredibly well. Just listen to any of the Batman scores from Christopher Nolan's trilogy. And they're not just simply ostinatos. The concept may be basic in theory, but what Hans does is he uses them in interesting instruments, especially percussion. But, it's definitely not just hans. Lots of other film composers use it. I could name several, but I'll just leave it with the one and only Ennio Morricone. In particular his main theme for 1969 film H2S.
Anyway... Ostinati are cool.
I was immediately engaged with the piece from the start. As a percussionist, just hearing how even the snare drum is throughout the piece is incredible. I do see why people will say that is boring, because of the number of repeats as you mentioned. But I think that because there are variations going on with the other instruments and are all coming at different times, I believe that this takes that ‘boring’ affect away from the piece. It makes me agree with your comment on how it is almost hypnotic away. I just had to keep listening to the piece because I was so engaged.
I love this piece. It is a masterful showcase of build. I think the ostinato in this piece (and all repetitive music) is built on subtle changes and builds to the piece. This creates a beautiful arc of energy. Ravel takes his melody and gives it to different timbres. It is new every iteration because it is in the hands of a new player, a new colour. He slowly adds more and more instruments to all the parts save the snare background which grounds the whole piece. It shows great control to not change anything but instrumentation for the first 16 minutes. It's enthralling and by the time we reach the epic conclusion we have earned it. It seems to flow logically. It hones your ear in to each musicians phrase. It is a wonderful moment when the saxophone player has a a little scoop to the line. This is a detail we would not have noticed if it were not a very repetitive piece.
ALSO when the strings are finally ARCO. It's such an amazing moment. You can relish in the musicians being let free of their subtle pizz to finally have their crack at the melody. That being said, it makes sense to keep it the winds and brass for so long since there is much more timbral variance in the instruments of those sections than that of the string family.
In closing: Bolero is something we want to find boring but Ravel is just too good to let us off that easy.
I think the repetition in Bolero, or any other highly repetitive piece, doesn't become boring because of orchestration.
By looking at just the rhythm of an Ostinato, or just the notes of an Ostinato, we are subjecting our viewpoint to a very small aspect of musical sound. There are many timbral aspects that become important when a composer repeats a figure hundreds of times, those being instrumentation, colouristic effects, doubling (or lack thereof), dynamics, articulations, etc.
I think this more nuanced approach to music is what makes Bolero so interesting. At some point we stop thinking about the notes and rhythm of the ostinato, and begin to think of where it is going throughout the orchestra and what is happening with it.
Disclaimer: I know i commented on this last year, but my opinion has changed so I have decided to comment again.
I can understand why people love and cheer for this piece. The way the Ostinato comes in one instrument at a time, along with the melody repeating itself can be an engaging figure. The piece also feels like one big crescendo, and the more in unison the instruments are, the more exciting it gets. The last minute or so, being the one time where something different happens, is extremely effective and a compelling ending for this piece. With all of the brass and percussion, the groove feels very southern-like (idk how to describe it).
My opinion changed on the fact that I honestly found it to go one for way too long. Not saying that anything sounded bad, I just think it went on longer than it should have. Once that last section hit, I started to enjoy it again because it just felt fresh.
Some really interesting information here. I've found in my own composing up to this point that I tend to rely quite heavily on ostinato, and struggle with the effective variance thereof. To see how Ravel is able to use precisely the same figure throughout the entire piece without it ever feeling tired is astounding to me. I can see how the function of the ostinato here is complementary to the orchestration, which is ever evolving (much unlike the static, droning rhythm). Through this juxtaposition, the piece always feels as though it's moving somewhere. These are devices I would love to implement in my own writing.
I’ve used an ostinato of some kind in most of the pieces I’ve written. Maybe that's a good thing, or maybe I've become too dependant on them because of how easy they are to use...
I think ostinato’s are an incredibly powerful tool, but only if they are used effectively. For beginning composers such as myself, I think using an ostinato can often be a crutch, as it’s such an easy way to create structure and coherence just by copying and pasting a couple of bars over and over again. So if by saying “kids love ‘em” you mean undergraduate composition majors such as myself, I think you’re right!
However, just because something is easy to do, it doesn't mean that its boring or ineffective. Like pretty much every aspect of music, the effectiveness of an ostinato is entirely dependent on the context in which it appears. If the other elements of the music outside the ostinato are constantly changing and interacting with the ostinato in unique and interesting ways, then the ostinato can be transformed into an incredible tool for making a piece coherent and memorable. This is definitely the case for Bolero. Though the ostinato is so simple and repetitive, it never really feels that way because of how the rest of the instruments are written. Since the melodies in the other instruments are all so interesting and non-repetitive, there is always something for the listener to focus on besides the ostinato. The rhythms of the rest of the orchestra are always changing and interacting with the ostinato in pleasing ways, and the harmonic language used is often surprising and satisfying. The ostinato in bolero gives it such a lively, march-like feel that keeps it chugging along. It also means that, no matter when you start listening to the piece, you can immediately recognize what you’re listening to.
I think ostinato can be surprisingly difficult to do well. First, a melody must be written, one that is interesting enough to keep listeners engaged yet simple enough to build upon. After that, a composer must find a way to keep that ostinato engaging enough to not bore the audience.
As one of the other commenters pointed out, Bolero is incredibly engaging because Ravel was able to use color, timbre, and dynamics to keep the listener interested. As a listener, I love listening to the little details in the background behind the melody. Where Ravel decides to use the harp, what winds he uses to accompany the main melody, where the high brass interjects, everything is very well-thought out. This piece is an incredible testament to his orchestration skills. I also think that the pacing of the piece is quite crucial to its success. Ravel knows exactly when to vary the melody, knows exactly when to change the instrumentation, and he knows exactly when to add an extra element. The tension is built until the exact right moment until the orchestra is allowed to be at full force.
Basically, Bolero works because every element was done with intention. I think it would be very hard for a lesser composer to use ostinato in such a substantive way.
Great article and great comments, but I'm surprised nobody's pointed out that Ravel himself was more than a little appalled by the popular success of Bolero. "I've only written one masterpiece - Bolero," he wrote. "Unfortunately there's no music in it." It was intended as an experiment in texture without expression. The theme, if you look at it objectively, does just kind of wander arbitrarily up and down the scale; on its own there's nothing much to recommend it. It's the orchestration that elevates the pedestrian wandering into something memorable -- an aesthetic achievement that today we consider valid even though Ravel probably would have considered it vacuous.
Have you ever heard of binaural beats? That is music that has constant, yet drastically and beautifully slow repetitions. It is almost hypnotic in the way that it relaxes you so much, and drifts you off to sleep very quickly. This may not be an example of ostinato, but I was reminded of it whilst reading this article. I am also reminded of Steve Reich's "Violin Phase" which repeats the same phrase. Over and over again. In my opinion, this specific piece drives me crazy. However, listening to Boléro, I quite enjoy the constant repetition and how it transports you to another universe. A calmer, more slow-paced universe. Ostinatos are quite an interesting musical technique. They can either be done really well, or really (not) well. If I were to do ostinatos in a piece, I would ensure that it had some variation in other aspects of the piece, like Ravel does in Boléro.
As a percussionist when I saw a post about the Bolero snare drum pattern I had to read it as this is an "excerpt" (if you can call playing the same pattern for several minutes an excerpt) that I am very familiar with. The point which is brought up and the main topic of discussion here is how this heavily repeated fragment some how seems to not garner the attention you would think it would. Writing the same figure for someone to play 339 times could be looked at as lazy but it makes for a beautiful, and highly popular piece of music.
From my first hand experience with the pattern, playing it along to the music it's a lot harder than playing the same thing 339 times might seem as its really easy to lose track of how many times you've played. This dilemma causes many principle snare drummers in orchestras who perform Bolero to create short hand scores that have a road map of the piece as opposed to reading along with the original part. I also think it shows the first reason as to why this heavily repeated snare drum part isn't seen as an issue and is for some people, the most recognizable part of the entire piece. If the person who plays the part is able to get so lost within it despite their job being to pay attention and play the music, obviously it must also be a rather simple task for an audience member for whom the percussionist is all the way it the back of the stage for to not even pay attention to how many times they are hearing this particular phrase. It does a good job of staying out of the way and only bringing itself to attention a sparse times throughout the piece, keeping it interesting.
Part of the reason why this ostinato figure works is as I mentioned, to do with the instrument that plays it. I don't think Ravel would have for lack of a better term, gotten away with it, if he wrote something like this in the flutes or any other melody instrument for that matter. The snare drum however, is part of the percussion section who sit at the back of the orchestra and whose main purpose normally is to serve as a sort of foundation and background for the rest of the orchestra. This is why I think it works so well because this figure although being repeated for the entirety of the piece is played by the snare drum which for most is not the primary focus of the orchestra and often acts as the ground support for the rest of the instruments and so most audience members aren't going to be annoyed by the fact that the snare drummer was stood there playing the same rhythmic ostinato the entire piece.
What a cool piece! I think the use of the ostinato is really effective in this (obviously, since we're discussing it) because it allows the piece to build up while still remaining connected to it's starting point which makes it all the more dramatic. I think it also contrasts well with the melody that repeats on top of it. Although this melody is repeated a lot, the snare continuing underneath gives it a more free feeling in contrast. It reminds me more of marching band music than other orchestral music. Was also interested to see a comment talking about how Ravel actually considered this piece to be rather un-musical which I can also understand. On their own, the repeated snare and the same old melody over and over would be pretty headache-inducing but it's the great use of orchestration and texture that makes this piece so satisfying to listen to. Makes you think about how many different aspects actually go into creating a good composition.
I think that it's interesting seeing all the different interpretations on the extent to which ostinato can be used. There are some comments that are talking about how within the bolero the phrasing and the gradual buildup allows it to remain interesting for the full piece and other people who were saying that, despite that, the ostinato still goes on for way too long. Honestly for me, how long it takes for ostinato to get old is much more relevant to the use of the piece rather than the use of ostinato. I remember the first time that I ever listened to the Bolero absolutely hating it because I was listening to it as just a piece on its own and when the full 18 minutes of just the same thing over and over was the only thing you were focusing on it got so boring. However, when I've listened to it again since, I've always used it as a sort of calm and gentle background music because I'm trying to get something else done and that'll help me focus. In those scenarios, I don't find it to get old whatsoever. As a whole, I found that when the Bolero itself is the main focus the ostinato gets fairly repetitive and tiring very quickly, but I feel like in the context of another activity where you also have other things happening it makes more sense for that ostinato to be present, as it's something constant and easy to process while other things are happening. Therefore, I think it's also possible that the use of highly extensive and prominent ostinato could be used more effectively when they're not necessarily the focus of the piece or there are additional theatrics surrounding the usage of the piece.
I love the idea of making a lot from a little because it is easy for the brain to understand little ideas that develop a lot over time than quickly understand one big and complex idea. That is why in my compositions I always try to implement as much variation to a little theme as possible, and in my experience, this has had a great positive impact. Obviously Bolero is a piece that takes this to the very very extreme and I don't particularly enjoy the piece, as I do think it goes for too long with too little material, but the effort is there and the idea is proven thanks to this.
Ideally, I think one should be able to write a piece like bolero not with the intentions to call it a masterpiece but to challenge yourself how much can you write out from the smallest idea you can have, and if you succeed at this you will have a easier time writing pieces which are longer and have more material
When completing out compositions this term I tried to implement this as much as possible. I think of earlier compositions as one big idea, however nearing the end of the course, I found it easier to think if using a small idea, then creating variation based off of this, while having it consistent in another voice. Before this course I was thinking of a composition as one big idea, which is true to some extent I suppose, however that is also like taking a two minute long breath. Where is the phrasing? is it all one phrase? is the idea continuous and all part of one thing? No!!! I had to change my mind set to "Create a two bar idea. Now try to be creative, create phrases, and variation within this" I found my brain going crazy off the rails just wanting to write all of my ideas on the page. This lead to a lot of hectic compositions with way too many ideas. Cool ideas. but bad execution :( .
Bolero is the extreme of this. Create one idea, then play it until the audience yells "PLEASE STOP!! ". While I like this piece and appreciate what he has tried to do. I find myself a little sleepy. it is very repetitive and monotone. I find with compositions we are doing now a happy medium is good. Don't go crazy with the whole creativeness, but still have some freedom in writteng and techniques. Also use some ostinato, but don't go to crazy with that either.
Post a Comment