Classical music buffs, please help
 

What is the classical piece used in this video? The video is kind of cool, but I'm just giving an example of the song.

Ravel's Bolero.

Bolero reminds me of Blast!
:)

*smacks forehead* Duh! Thanks.

So that's where we know it from! :D

We old farts also know it from Blake Edwards' "10"!

I also played it in college.

We heard it during the (yes, I'm admitting I watched this...and actually sorta enjoyed it) team rhythmic gymnastic hoop routine by Belarus. I knew I had some sort of association beyond generally knowing the tune but couldn't put it. The second I saw Blast! listed in the wiki entry it clicked.

You didn't recognize it when it made you think of sex with Bo Derek?

Had to google that one. Yeah, that movie is nowhere in my consciouness. Seems to have past me by. I was 7 when it came out, afterall.

Maybe in dog years. 10 came out in 1979. I was conscious of it.

"10" was a major part of my adolescence. The less I tell you why, the happier you'll be.

OH! And there is a fantastic animated sequence based on Bolero in Bruno Bozetto's tribute to Fantasia, Allegro Non Troppo. The whole movie is worth seeing/ renting - but here is Bolero. This link will take you to part one, but you will have to access the second half from YouTube. Check it out, it's terrific.

Oh! I so agree!
 

Thanks for the link, flippy -- I love it. I remember seeing Allegro Non Troppo at a film festival in San Francisco with all my roommates. I had some interesting housemates back then. It's a good memory, we had some fun.

Oh, oops. I skimmed past the "10" reference so I didn't realize that was what Alex meant. I saw his post and stuck "Bolero Bo Derek" into a google and the first thing I saw was the movie Bolero in 1984 (which would make me 6, not 7, oops).

And yeah, Allegro Non Troppo was at the top of our Netflix list pretty quickly tonight.

I also recommend her "Tarzan."

Damn, one of the few classical music questions I could have answered off the top of my head and I had to come late to this thread...

Yes, Bolero is as instantly recognizable to most of my generation as the William Tell Overture is to the one that preceded us. Although for somewhat different reasons I would suspect...

I was going to say it was obvious, too, but didn't want to hurt CP's feelings. Apparently you don't care about her feelings. :)

I will say, though, that I was so surprised she didn't recognize it that I searched for Bolero online and listened to the beginning very quickly to make sure I wasn't being a moron.

What? I said she's not that old. Hardly a slight in most books.

It also says the name of the music right at the beginning of the video, in the bottom right corner of the picture.

Yeah, that's true. I suppose I'm old as well, then.

Heh, oops. Missed that.

And it's not that the music was entirely unfamiliar. We just didn't know the name or where in pop-culture we might have heard it.

:blush: Yeah, missed the beginning of the video...

Bolero was used in cartoons?

For me, Bolero evokes "10" first, Allergro Non Troppo second, Torvill and Dean third and Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown last. The piece is up there with Beethoven's 9th symphony, the Blue Danube, William Tell Overture, Ride of the Valkeries, and Carmina Burana in the "classical music most oft used as accompaniment" category.

All of which should be experienced played by a live orchestra at least once in your life. I saw Bolero performed by the Long Beach Symphony accompanied by flamenco dancers once. I've seen LBSO perform Beethoven's 9th and the William Tell Overture as well. But the ultimate for me was Carmina Burana - the scariest music ever (well, parts of it anyway). I have CD's of most of this stuff but it's just not the same as a live orchestra.

Last spring I got to sit in on a rehearsal of Carmina Burana. There was a full orchestra, soloists, a 250-voice choir and maybe 30 of us watching it all. They played through the whole piece in order but the conductor stopped and had them do some parts over until it was the way he wanted it. That meant I got to hear some of the best parts multiple times. It was a great experience.

I do adore Carmina Burana, the whole thing. I've never found it scary, though. It actually makes me pretty happy. The sometimes fatalistic, sometimes humorous, occasionally blasphemous lyrics are worth looking up as well. I'd love to attend a live performance someday.

One of my most memorable experiences onstage was an evening pairing Pagliacci with Carmina Burana. The curtain fell on Pagliacci[/i][/i]with the townspeople gathered around the bodies of Silvio and Nedda, staring in horror at the knife in Canio's hand.

After intermission, the curtain found us all in the same position. As the chorus started "O Fortuna" Canio was taken off, and the two lovers came to life to become the solists for Carmina[/i][/i]The piece was fully staged and danced by Body Vox, an amazing modern dance group based in Portland.

It would take me hours to fully describe this production (in fact , it has in the past). Suffice it to say that after over ten years, I still talk about it.