The ''Boléro'', Op. 19, is a short piano work written by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

in 1833 and published in 1834. It is one of his lesser-known piano pieces, although it has been recorded numerous times.

Structure

The overall key of the ''Boléro'' is difficult to establish. It was often listed as ''Boléro in C major - A minor'', as the work opens with three unison octaves in G ( dominant chords of C major) in ''fortissimo'', then a lengthy introduction in C major, moving to A minor (the

relative minor In music, relative keys are the major and minor scales that have the same key signatures (enharmonically equivalent), meaning that they share all the same notes but are arranged in a different order of whole steps and half steps. A pair of major an ...

of C major) for the Boléro proper. This is interrupted by sections in A major, A-flat major and B-flat minor before returning to A minor. It ends triumphantly in A major (

parallel major In music theory, a major scale and a minor scale that have the same tonic note are called parallel keys and are said to be in a parallel relationship. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony'', p.9. 3rd edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson. . "Whe ...

of A minor).

Composition

The work was dedicated to the Scottish-born but half-French Mademoiselle la Comtesse Émilie de Flahaut, then aged only 14, and a pupil of Chopin's. She was later to become Countess of Shelburne. The apparent inspiration for the ''Boléro'' was Chopin's friendship with the French soprano

Pauline Viardot Pauline Viardot (; 18 July 1821 – 18 May 1910) was a nineteenth-century French mezzo-soprano, pedagogue and composer of Spanish descent. Born Michelle Ferdinande Pauline García, her name appears in various forms. When it is not simply "Pauli ...

, whose father, the famed Spanish tenor Manuel García, had introduced

boleros Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It has ...

to Paris by the time of Chopin's arrival there.Naxos
His biographer Frederick Niecks speculated that it was inspired by the Bolero in

Daniel Auber Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (; 29 January 178212 May 1871) was a French composer and director of the Paris Conservatoire. Born into an artistic family, Auber was at first an amateur composer before he took up writing operas professionally when ...

's ''

La muette de Portici ''La muette de Portici'' (''The Mute Girl of Portici'', or ''The Dumb Girl of Portici''), also called ''Masaniello'' () in some versions, is an opera in five acts by Daniel Auber, with a libretto by Germain Delavigne, revised by Eugène Scr ...

'' (1828). Despite the ostensibly Spanish flavour of the piece, it has been described as a

polonaise The polonaise (, ; pl, polonez ) is a dance of Polish origin, one of the five Polish national dances in time. Its name is French for "Polish" adjective feminine/"Polish woman"/"girl". The original Polish name of the dance is Chodzony, meani ...

in disguise, or a ''boléro à la polonaise'', as its rhythms are more redolent of the national dance of Chopin's homeland than anything Spanish. It was written five years before Chopin first visited Spain in 1838.

References

External links

Free score at IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Bolero (Chopin) 1833 compositions Compositions by Frédéric Chopin Compositions for solo piano