Ravel’s Boléro: Robert Treviño and the Basque National Orchestra

“Ravel is commonly understood as a French composer, but to us he is a French-Basque composer,” says Robert Treviño, Music Director of Spain’s Basque National Orchestra.

As a child, Ravel heard Spanish folk songs, sung to him by his mother, who was of Basque heritage, and who grew up in Madrid. This early influence is evident throughout Ravel’s works. Now, a Spanish orchestra, led by a Mexican-American conductor who grew up in Fort Worth, is playing this music with unique insight.

Ravel’s famous Boléro, composed in 1928 for a ballet commission, is a sensuous exercise in orchestral color. Its simple, infectious melody floats over an unyielding rhythmic ostinato, played 169 times by one or more snare drums. As more voices gradually join in, the music takes the form of a vast, expansive, unrelenting crescendo. (You can find more background on Boléro in an earlier post).

Listening to Robert Treviño and the musicians of the Basque National Orchestra, Boléro‘s majestic crescendo takes on new power. A meticulous sense of control results in a climax which arrives just at the right moment:

Recordings

  • Ravel: Boléro, M. 81, Robert Treviño, Basque National Orchestra Amazon

Featured Image: Robert Treviño at the headquarters of the Basque National Orchestra

About Timothy Judd

A native of Upstate New York, Timothy Judd has been a member of the Richmond Symphony violin section since 2001. He is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music where he earned the degrees Bachelor of Music and Master of Music, studying with world renowned Ukrainian-American violinist Oleh Krysa.

The son of public school music educators, Timothy Judd began violin lessons at the age of four through Eastman’s Community Education Division. He was a student of Anastasia Jempelis, one of the earliest champions of the Suzuki method in the United States.

A passionate teacher, Mr. Judd has maintained a private violin studio in the Richmond area since 2002 and has been active coaching chamber music and numerous youth orchestra sectionals.

In his free time, Timothy Judd enjoys working out with Richmond’s popular SEAL Team Physical Training program.

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