Ravel had a love-hate relationship with what quickly became his most popular work, once remarking, "I have written only one masterpiece. That is Boléro. Unfortunately, it contains no music." Composed as a ballet at the behest of Ida Rubinstein, the work begins quietly with a two-bar snare drum rhythm that will be repeated unchanged until the end, gradually growing louder as more instruments join in with the theme and the rhythmic accompaniment.

There are actually two related themes, the first stated by the flute and repeated the by the clarinet, the second introduced by the bassoon and repeated by the E-flat clarinet. These themes are then passed to other solo instruments and groups as the orchestration builds, always in C major until a cathartic key change to E major near the end.