The Grand Opera House in Paris was packed on November 22, 1928. That day was the premiere of Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero,” which captivated and hypnotized the audience with the same melody repeating continuously for 15 minutes through its simplicity and directness, and simultaneously heralding the increasing and overwhelming pace of science and technology in the 20th century. At the end, when everyone was applauding vigorously and shouting “bravo,” a woman screamed in a much higher and shrill voice: “He’s mad, he’s mad!” Maurice Ravel responded to this outcry: “How correctly she understood my music.” Some musicologists rushed to write that Maurice Ravel was using music to raise his voice of protest against the implementation of conveyor belts in factories during those years, where a person had to stand in front of the conveyor throughout the workday performing the same simple action that required no creativity and was very boring, but they had to do it – it was their job until an automatic device replaced them. It should be said that this interpretation of Bolero sounds very logical but isn’t convincing simply because the composition captured the hearts of music lovers worldwide within a year and continues its triumph to this day. How can boredom, torment, and hatred capture people’s hearts? Later, Maurice Ravel himself confessed that with this composition, he simply wanted to express his love for musical instruments and the entire orchestra – a simple human desire, and Ravel himself didn’t expect, and however much he didn’t want it, Bolero became the calling card of his entire creative life. The reason was the expression of love for the magical effect of musical instruments, each musician in the orchestra, and together the whole orchestra and music in general. In an orchestra, as in life, each person finds their place and participates within the limits of their own potential. The same is true in our educational complex.
Bolero and our educational complex
I suggest first listening to and watching “Bolero” performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev, which lasts exactly 15 minutes and 50 seconds. Pay attention to the conductor’s baton and eyes.
After watching and listening to the video, turn it on again, but this time leaving only the sound while the article is on the computer screen.
Beginning of Bolero – Preschool and Elementary School
The drumsticks hit so lightly and delicately on the drum that they seem not to want to break the stone silence, but no matter how mysterious that silence is, it must be broken because Gergiev blinked his eyes and it’s necessary to signal the beginning. And suddenly, one of the dozens of shining instruments pointed up and down in this crowded orchestra begins to play. The piccolo (small flute) joined the barely audible sound of the drum. The impression is that the piccolo made a mistake because everyone is motionless and silent, and perhaps the piccolo player was testing their instrument. No, they hadn’t made a mistake. They started and finished a simple and accessible melody. More precisely, they hadn’t even finished when the regular flute joined in and the same melody was heard again. They did this in response to Gergiev’s restrained gaze and the slight movement of his 5-6 centimeter pointed baton. The oboe joins them with the same melody in the next step. The musicians are so serious and their love for their instruments is invaluably great. They don’t want to impress with their mastery. Each of them speaks on behalf of their instrument: “I am the drum…, I am the piccolo…, I am the flute…, and I am the oboe…. do you like my voice?” “Yes, you are good, we love you,” the piccolo clarinet responds together with its friend, the regular clarinet.
Away from mother for the first time, a bit scared, barely holding back tears, a child joining the 2-4-year-old group enters preschool for the first time, and gradually, playing and almost not playing, sometimes crying, forms their self in the new environment. Their desire is not to impress anyone with their knowledge and abilities. They simply want to be loved in this new environment. They can only say: “I am Ani…, I am Vahagn…, I am Narek…, I am Nare…” This is where the development program for 2–4-year-old children based solely on love arrives with its sand therapy, letter cards, games and ritual plays, splashes and clatters. Attending elementary school with the “Joy of Learning” program is attractive because it doesn’t focus only on gifted children and the consistent work of their caring and over-demanding parents who painfully learn lessons together with children at home. The important thing is for the child to start loving learning. This is exactly how we live with our author alternative educational work.
Wind Instruments – Middle School
The now familiar melody is repeated identically by the bassoons and three saxophones, trombones and various types of trumpets. Each instrument seems to say, “I patiently listened to all of you, now let me join you too.” Again, the same melody, but the listener doesn’t get bored because they feel Maurice Ravel’s great love for musical instruments, showing no preference for any of them. All instruments serve the same purpose – they create music. The second important reason for Bolero’s appeal, which is associated with social life and human relationships, is the separate appreciation and valuation of each instrument.
In middle school, the pedagogical emphasis is already placed on each student’s self-expression and discovery of individuality. The created transparent environment also plays a major role in the learning process. Students are able to express themselves and manifest their individuality through the Middle School subsite, student blogs, the Marble Hall, educational projects, “Radio Ban,” and educational trips. This is exactly how we live with our original alternative educational work.
String instruments join in and the symphony orchestra comes together – High School
When performing Bolero, the most patient instruments in the symphony orchestra are the string instruments – violins, violas, cellos, double basses, and of course, the divine harp. While waiting for their turn, musicians touch the violin strings with their fingers, just as guitarists do. This becomes a unique way of expressing satisfaction and applause for performing colleagues. And when it’s time for the string instruments, even Valery Gergiev awakens from his peaceful slumber, and the hall experiences a pleasant shiver of emotional impact – getting the opportunity to hear the familiar melody with such intensity again, when the powerful drum beats are followed by the cymbal’s swish. Gergiev is inspired, all instruments of the orchestra demonstrate their full potential, and suddenly – silence… What happened, is it over? And where is the characteristic ending that announces the conclusion of almost all musical compositions? Bolero stands out from all other musical pieces in this way too. It has no characteristic ending; it seems unfinished and continues to live in listeners’ souls through its incompleteness. The music hasn’t ended; it just paused for a moment and now continues in my soul.
The main actual educational purpose of all other public high schools in the Republic is preparation for State Final and Unified Examinations, which has no connection with state standard requirements. In fact, in all these schools, subject test questionnaires eliminate students’ love for learning and opportunities for individual expression for three years. Everything is being leveled – both students’ abilities and knowledge base. They are only required to memorize facts, information, formulas, and place crosses in appropriate places. But what’s happening at our school? It turns out that in our High School, through author alternative pedagogy, project-based and non-formal educational activities, we pay much more attention to implementing state standards than all other public high schools following state programs. Nevertheless, there is an important omission in our high school. Individual learning plans, the absence of daily lesson cramming as a whip, and constructive student-centered learning sessions based on project-based education have created ideal paradise conditions for forming both learning and non-learning individuals. This is our High School’s current challenge. In agriculture, autumn is the harvest season, but in our educational complex, it’s the beginning of summer. What a busy harvest season this June was with its summer educational camp, reviews, and festivals: meetings, discussions, viewing review and festival materials, guests, educational trips. This is comparable to the string instruments’ entrance in Bolero’s performance. The last day of the teachers’ summer camp was marked by the most successful project-innovation of the passing academic year – the concert media Friday. With June’s end the teachers’ annual vacation period begins, but life in the educational complex continues, like Maurice Ravel’s endless music.