“Boléro” is one of the most famous orchestral works of the 20th century and a defining example of musical minimalism before the term itself became common. Composed in 1928, the piece is built almost entirely on the repetition of a single rhythmic pattern played by the snare drum and two alternating melodic phrases that are repeated without variation. Over approximately fifteen minutes, the only real change is orchestration and dynamics, as the music gradually crescendos from near silence to overwhelming intensity. Originally conceived as a ballet score, “Boléro” fascinated audiences through its audacious simplicity and hypnotic structure. Ravel himself described the work as an experiment in orchestration rather than composition, famously stating that it contained “no music” in the traditional sense. Despite—or because of—this radical restraint, the piece became immensely popular and has been widely used in dance, film, and popular culture