On November 22, 1928, Ida Rubinstein’s ballet to the music of Maurice Ravel’s Boléro premiered at the Opéra Garnier in Paris: it was a resounding success. An orchestral version of the Boléro was soon available, and leading orchestras from across the globe soon made it part of their repertoire.

Now, all that remained was to enable smaller-scale performances, to introduce the work into the homes of passionate pianists. This goal was achieved by transcriptions. In 1929, Lucien Roger Garban (1877–1959), official arranger of Éditions Durand before being named artistic director, worked with the composer on the solo piano transcription. As a long-standing friend, not only did Ravel trust him to proofread.

Preface by Edmond Lemaître

Transcription for piano by Roger Branga