Classical music, despite its pleasant tempo, has its share of endurance tests. Just ask the drummer playing Bolero.
Maurice Ravel’s most popular work, on tap during The Florida Orchestra’s season-opening Hough Family Foundation Masterworks program Oct. 5-6, demands stamina from the poor musician working the solo snare drum − without a break – for nearly 15 minutes.
“It’s a marathon of repetition to be sure,’’ says John Shaw, the orchestra’s principal percussionist and head of the percussion studio at St. Petersburg College. “But there’s still a measure of satisfaction in performing it well.’’
The joke among musicians is the Devil pins Bolero on drummers who don’t make it to Heaven, forcing them to play it over and over for eternity.
Composed in 1928, Bolero is a single-movement work for full orchestra, based on a Spanish theme repeated 18 times over 340 measures. While strings, woodwinds and brass intertwine in a variety of colors and harmonies, the snare drum keeps an insistent rat-a-tat-tat from beginning to end.
The music doesn’t develop so much as creep forward, growing louder until its explosive end – when everything implodes with exhilarating effect. The trick for Shaw is to stay focused on his triplet drum patterns and enjoy the moment.
“It’s a study in concentration,’’ he adds. “And I don’t have a death grip on the sticks; I’m only holding on with enough pressure to keep from dropping them. The demanding aspect of this is not strength, but steadiness. The constant attention to steady tempo never wanes.’’
When drummers audition for an opening in an orchestra, they sometimes play a section from Bolero to show their skill at keeping a secure rhythm and volume control. The snare part begins so quietly as to be almost indiscernible, but grows louder by the minute. The drumsticks begin at about two inches above the skins, then to as much as two feet during the climax.
“One of the most difficult things to do as a percussionist is to execute extremely soft, intricate rhythmic passages, and that’s what the first couple of minutes of Bolero entail,’’ he says. “Your hands have to be extremely steady, so you must have control of your nerves.’’
The orchestra played Bolero a few years back with Shaw at center stage, surrounded by his colleagues. While the strings, woodwinds and brass players kept their eyes on their scores, Shaw only had to repeat two of the same measures, staring straight ahead − as if in a trance.
“It’s meditative in a way,’’ he says of the piece, “and I just try to get into the flow of the rhythm and keep my mind still and open.’’
We love John and he has my sympathy. Personally, I can’t stand this monotonous piece, one of the few classics I avoid. But my wife wants to attend and we like being at the season opener each year. I may have to bring discrete earplugs. Good luck, John!