Monday, July 27, 2015

Jacques Brel's "L'homme dans la cité"

One of the things I noticed while listening to my French music is the snare drum part in Jacques Brel's "L'homme dans la cité."  It bears more than a little resemblance to that in Ravel's Boléro (or, I suppose, any bolero, but Ravel's is probably the most famous and - like Brel - Ravel was a francophone).

I tried writing out the notation, but I should include the disclaimer that it's entirely possible that I've done it wrong.  I didn't mean to indicate B notes either, but I couldn't format mine like it should be (with only one line).

(click the image to enlarge it)
(notation for Ravel's Boléro found here)

I'm pretty sure that the part in Brel's song is in 4/4 time where Ravel's is in 3/4.  Still, the rhythms are similar.  The part in Brel's song has some more variation than Ravel's though.