It's Personal: Bolero

We had just returned from brunch at Geraldine's. (If ever you have the chance to go to Geraldine's in Columbia City, order the French Toast or the Casserole. Awesome.) We futzed around a bit, and Joseph got comfortable. The kiss of death for Joseph on a cool, dreary day. The key for me? I didn't change out of the clothes I'd worn to church that morning. And when 2 p.m. came, I was out the door.

I arrived at Meany Hall looking forward to the performance of Boléro. But I was pleasantly surprised by a slew of other performances from Ravel and Debussy. Apart from the Asian woman with the perma-fro behind me - rustling some plastic bag filled with goodies and chomping them much like a cow might in the middle of Iowa - the overall performance was impressive.

I do enjoy music, but I can't say that I enjoy music enough to know how to be critical. I do not frequent the symphony after all - the tickets were a gift from my mother - and go primarily to close my eyes and meditate to the sounds of harps and violas complementing each other.

Still, I knew Boléro and wondered how I would like a live performance. As the drummer began her tapping, the composer kept his hand by his side and directed as if a restraint was tied around his chest and arms. It is a piece that requires patience, a gradually blossoming work that both relaxes and inspires. Woodwinds give way to strings whilst the drummers keep a very difficult consistent beat. Perhaps a more critical ear could find a few missed notes from time to time, but I heard only the near perfect coalescence.

Apart from Ravel's most famous work, I learned something I'd never known, even after having studied music theory - a very beginner course - in college. Most - if not all of you - have witnessed The Sound of Music I'd imagine. And within that musical, you will recall the song, Do, Re, Mi. As most of you probably know as well, do, re, mi, etc. refer to notes on a scale in music. Well, every letter of the English alphabet can be assigned to these notes. Most people who know music understand that there are notes A-G. But it doesn't stop there...

• Do - A, H, O, V
  
• Re - B, I, P, W
  
• Mi - C, J, Q, X
  
• Fa - D, K, R, Y
  
• So - E, L, S, Z
  
• La - F, M, T
  
• Ti - G, N, U

Knowing these 'mappings', if you will, a person can create a song associated with a name. Take Mike, for instance. The notes associated with M-I-K-E are La-Re-Fa-So. And there are times when composers will take a name like 'Mike', for instance, and create a song - or even a symphony. Maurice Ravel - composer of Boléro - happened to have done just that in celebration of the 100th anniversary (1909) of Franz Josef Haydn's death (1809). The result was Minuet on the Name of Haydn in G Major.

The last word... If ever you have the chance to attend the symphony I suggest you go. Even if it isn't your 'cup of tea' I think you'll be entertained. If not by the music, at least by some of the stuffy people in their odd garb...