W.C. O'Hare's "Levee Revels", subtitled "An Afro-American Cane-
Hop", was published in 1898, a year before Scott Joplin's "Maple
Leaf Rag" launched the ragtime boom. It's an early cakewalk
two-step somewhat reminiscent in style of W.H. Krell's
"Mississippi Rag" and "Shake Your Dusters".  It's far more
polished than Krell's work, though, and the blend of unusual
harmonic coloration and traditional folk melody make it sound
almost like Aaron Copeland writing in Americana folk mode.  Trebor
Tichnor calls "Levee Revels" "one of the most inspired and soulful
cakewalk-style pieces ever written".

I believe him.  After a magnificent alternation between quiet e
minor and grandiose G major in the first two strains, the piece
modulates into C major and launches into a beautiful, simple folk
melody in the trio that sounds a bit like Blind Boone's "Carrie's
Gone to Kansas City" but is a lot more subtle, with little slips
back into minor mode at the ends of phrases.  When I first
sight-read the piece and had no idea what was coming, that C major
strain practically blew me away.

256 responses total.

At the opposite pole chronologically is Willie Anderson's
"Keystone Rag", published by the Stark Music Company in 1921,
really past the end of the ragtime era.  It's a classical slow
rag, nostalgic in feel.  "Keystone Rag" is a small-scale piece,
not difficult technically, but it's a wonderfully expressive
backward look at a genre whose popularity, once enormous, had
faded away.  Stark, which in its heyday had printed the work
of the giants of the field like Scott Joplin and James Scott,
was one of the last publishers still doing this type of music.

As with any piece in this style, it's important not to rush it
(that doesn't mean it has to be played funereally), and the
sixteenth note runs should be played even, as written, rather than
as jazzy dotted sixteenths as was the style with 20's tin pan
alley music.

What are your published sources for these pieces, John?  Is there
a book of Ragtime rarities I should look for?

Two anthologies, published by Dover, of rags selected by Trebor Tichenor:
_Ragtime Rarities_ and _Ragtime Rediscoveries_.  The pieces mentioned above
are from the latter volume.

Thanks for the information, John.  Hmm, I haven't played much ragtime
in awhile (used to specialize in Joplin).  I stopped playing ragtime
because I had some bad tendonitis in my hands and wrists, and all the
leaping octaves in the left hand just gave me pain and aches.  My
tendonitis is a lot better now (with regular chiropractic adjustments),
so I might look for those two books you mention.

  has anyone ever heard of "rialto ripples" by George Gershwin? 
excellent ragtime piece.

Indeed it is.  I recently acquired it on CD -- a collection of
miscellaneous rags, played by John Arpin, an excellent ragtime
pianist who's been performing since at least the 1970's.  There's
a recording of it by William Balcom also.

Just about everybody has heard of Scott Joplin, "the King of
Ragtime", and those who know a bit about the classical ragtime era
have probably heard about the other two composers of the ragtime
Big Three, Joseph Lamb and James Scott.

But the ragtime era produced many other composers of merit, now
largely forgotten.  How many have heard of Clyde Douglass, J.
Reginald MacEachron, Julia Lee Niebergall, Sydney K. Russell.

Clyde Douglass' "Old Virginia Rag" (1907) is a pure burst of
creative invention in the key of E flat that practically plays
itself.  Never straying far from the two octaves around middle C,
the piece just bounces through its five sections.

MacEachron's "On Easy Street" (1902) is an delightful dance tune in
the sunny key of G major.  Play it at a bright but not frenetic
pace.  Beautiful contrast between the high-stepping opening theme
and the sustained measure-long notes of the second strain.

"Horseshoe Rag" (1911), composed by Julia Niebergall, is something
of a technical challenge.  The first two strains are harmonically
quite rich, involving chords and octaves in both hands throughout,
yet the piece needs to sound light and bouncy.  If Niebergall
played this herself, she must've had big hands.  The more modest
trio, with its continual duet-like alternation between low and
high figures, is a delight.

A harmonically ambitious exercise indeed is Sydney Russell's
foxtrot, "Too Much Raspberry" (1906).  Lots of sudden, daring key
modulations, that all seem to work.  Despite the "moderato" tempo
marking, I think that this piece needs to be played at a brisk
pace.

What period (year A to year B) would you identify as being "the ragtime
era"?  When did ragtime first win widespread public acclaim, and when
did this stop happening?

I mostly know about Scott Joplin...  His huge hit, "Maple Leaf Rag,"
was the first million seller in sheet music.  That came out (I 
think) in 1899.  Classic ragtime was winding down around 1914
or so.  I need to check my facts, but I believe Joplin died
in 1917.  I think variations on classic ragtime continued into
the '20s.  Rudi Blesh wrote the definitive book on this
musical style, "They All Played Ragtime."  I have a copy of
it somewhere.  Sorry if this seems disjointed.  I did a paper
on Joplin and ragtime about 20 years ago, when I was a freshman
in high school.

That's right -- the vogue of "classical" ragtime coincided
pretty closely with the career of Scott Joplin.  I think the first
published "ragged time" pieces may have appeared in the mid-1890's.
By the time of Joplin's death in 1917, popularity of the form was
in decline.  By the mid-1920's, it had virtually vanished, even
its leading composers mostly forgotten.

There were a couple of small revivals of interest in this music
in the 1940's and late 1950's.  In the late 1960's and early 1970's,
the music was rediscovered by some serious musicians and musical
scholars -- perhaps mostly notably Joshua Rifkin, William Albright,
and William Balcom (the last two are University of Michigan School
of Music Faculty -- Ann Arbor is something of a center for the
study of the ragtime genre and other American popular music forms).
New recordings of the work of Joplin and other ragtime composers
began to appear.

It was Rifkin's recordings of Joplin rags, on the Nonesuch label,
that sparked my own interest in the ragtime genre.  It may have
been the same recordings that inspired director George Roy Hill to
incorporate Joplin's music in the soundtrack of his immensely
popular film, "The Sting" (1973).  With the success of that movie,
certain Joplin themes became a standard part of the public
musical consciousness.  (How many times have I heard "The
Entertainer" on Musak systems?)

Not to be nitpicky or anything, but it's Bolcom, not Balcom.
I care because Bolcom was one of my more fun professors at the
U of M.  I studied composition in his class about five years
ago.

Funny, you and I seem to have had our interest in ragtime sparked
simultaneously, John!  And to think, I wouldn't meet you for
sixteen years after I started playing ragtime piano...  I don't
play ragtime much anymore because I have some persistent tendonitis
in my hands/wrists that makes the constant jumping octaves rather
painful.  Bach is easier. ;)

(Thanks for the spelling correction, Leslie.  By the way, there's an
article on Bolcom in tonight's Ann Arbor News.  Seems he's been named
to the American Academy of Arts and Letters.)

Scott Joplin has been called the Mozart of classical ragtime.  If this
is so, then James Scott is surely the Beethoven.  His music is more
challenging technically than Joplin's, in a ratio that I find quite
close to the difficulty of Beethoven's piano music over Mozart's.  And
Scott has a harmonic inventiveness and a way of making a theme soar and
swoop and hang magically suspended and disappear and suddenly re-appear
in a new guise that reminds me a lot of Beethoven.

A great service to serious ragtime afficionados is the recent
publication of _The Music of James Scott_, a handsome hardcover volume
edited by Scott DeVeaux and William Howland Kenney (Simithsonian
Institution Press, 1992).  There's a long introduction on Scott's
career, an essay on the music itself dealing with such issues as proper
performance practice -- but the greatest contribution of this volume is
that it contains all of Scott's known solo piano pieces and songs.  To
my knowledge, Scott's complete works have never before been published
together in one volume, and his non-ragtime pieces -- waltzes and
popular songs -- have long been out of print until now.  The works have
been reprinted with minimal editing -- mostly facsimile reproductions
with corrections of obvious typographical errors and inconsistencies
(not uncommon in the sheet music of that era), and including all of the
original sheet music cover art (reproduced in black and white -- I
assume the originals were colored).

Do you know who in the area would carry the Scott volume?
I'd be interested in picking up a copy.

I found it at Borders.

I've been meaning to purchase William Albright's recently recorded
collection of all 31 of Joplin's rags.  (I think it's 31.)  But
for the longest time I couldn't locate it at either SKR or Tower.
Has anyone heard these recordings?

   No, but when you do John, let us know here?  I've always wanted
a collection of Joplin rags.  It would be wonderful if all of them
were contained in one little CD package, and it was good quality.

Seems to me I've seen the Albright collection, but I don't remember
where.

Stopped in at King Keyboards the other day to see what they have in the
ragtime line; picked up a couple of volumes that fill in some gaps in my
collection:

Scott Joplin, _Complete Piano Rags_, edited by David A. Jasen (Dover 1988)

   Similar in format and content to the Joplin _Collected Piano Rags_
   published in the 1970's, this book contains some pieces not included in
   that earlier volume because of copyright problems: "Searchlight Rag",
   "Rose Leaf Rag", and "Fig Leaf Rag".  I consider "Searchlight" to be one
   of Joplin's most beautiful compositions, and I've wanted to get my hands
   on it for some time now.

_World's Greatest Ragtime Solos for Piano_, edited by Maurice Hinson
(Alfred Publishing Co., 1993)

   Around forty compositions by various ragtime composers.  Duplicates
   a lot of material that I already have, but with some interesting
   additions:  W.C. Handy's magnificent "St. Louis Blues", Irving Berlin's
   "Alexander's Ragtime Band", Claude Debussy's "Golliwogg's Cakewalk"
   and "Le petit Negre", Erik Satie's "Le Piccadilly", Lucky Roberts'
   bouncy "Pork and Beans", Julia Lee Niebergall's "Hoosier Rag", Eubie
   Blake's "The Chevy Chase".

Re the Debussy and Satie:  The American ragtime craze of the late 19th
and early 20th centuries attracted the attention of a number of European
composers of the time.  I've read that Brahms was planning a ragtime
project, which death prevented him from completing.

I've got "Searchlight Rag" down pretty well now, and can play it from
memory.  Learning to play it has reinforced my impression that it is
one of Joplin's loveliest pieces.

"Fig Leaf Rag" is quite good too, although I suspect its billing on the
cover (my book contains facsimile reproductions of the original sheet
music covers) as a companion piece to "Maple Leaf Rag" was intended to
boost sales rather than give a clue about the music.  "Fig Leaf" is a
much later composition than "Maple Leaf" and quite different, although
the closing section does have some of the bounciness of the earlier
work.

To celebrate the arrival of our new kitten Sidney to the household, I am
learning to play Zez Confrey's "Kitten on the Keys" (1921).

Recently started working on William Bolcom's delightful rag "Graceful
Ghost", published in 1971 and recorded by Bolcom on an album of the
same name around that time.  It's one of his easier rags technically,
but still quite a challenge compared to most of Joplin -- 5 flats in
the key signature, modulating to 6 in the third strain.  And lots and
lots of octaves.

Are you planning to do a recital any time soon?

Re-reading this item makes me want to buy some ragtime music on CD.
Right now, all I have are two old LP's of Scott Joplin pieces played
on piano by Joshua Rifkin (and a tape made from those two albums).

Particularly looking toward the other ragtime composers, where would
you recommend I start?

I've done informal recitals in the past (not for a number of years,
though) and from time to time think about doing another one.  Not sure
where, though -- our music room won't hold many people and the
accoustics are a bit too harsh.

If you want to branch out to other ragtime composers, I'd recommend
starting with a CD called "Kings of Ragtime" on the ProArte label.
Pianist John Arpin plays works of the ragtime big three -- Joplin,
James Scott, Joseph Lamb -- as well as pieces by Eubie Blake, Gershwin,
Harry Guy, Joe Jordan, W.C. Handy, Jelly Roll Morton, William Bolcom,
and himself.

Arpin is a fine ragtime pianist, and this album is an excellent sampler
of the genre.  Bolcom's "Graceful Ghost" is included, as well as a
brilliant rendition of Handy's "St. Louis Blues".

I didn't know there was a recording of "Graceful Ghost" on CD.  
Cool.  Too bad neither of Bolcom's own recordings have been so issued;
one of them was even recorded digitally.

It is quite strange how that particular piece, "Graceful Ghost", seems
to linger in memory.  I often find myself humming the tune or considering
the interesting syncopation of the first few bars.  I've even awakened 
in the middle of the night to the sound of John playing this though he's
fast asleep at the time.  Weird.  I'd say this melody is haunting except
that might sound trite.

It's a ghost's playing that you hear in the middle of the night.

"Graceful Ghost" was a favorite piece on the CBC late night program
Brave New Waves, back in its glory days around 1984-1985 when they were
much less formatted than they are today.  (I wish I hadn't loaned
out most of the tapes I made in that era...)  That's where I first
encountered it, in the middle of the night on static-filled broadcasts.
(CBC-FM was just *barely* receivable in Lansing back in those days.)

Last week in St. Louis, I visited Scott Joplin's house, now a museum.
Except for a couple of buildings on either side, the neighborhood is
practically all gone, just weeds and rubble and burned-out buildings.

T.S. Eliot grew up only a few blocks away, at the same time that Joplin
lived here; but Eliot's home is no longer standing.

The Scott Joplin house museum is owned and operated by the state of
Missouri.  There was just the one tour guide while I was there, and I
was the only visitor during the hour or so that I spent there.

The exhibits are fairly sparse.  There's one or two rooms which have
to do with ragtime music in general, including other composers, etc.

The museum consists of two adjoining townhouses, built at the same time.
Some time before 1900, they were each divided into upper and lower flats.
Scott Joplin and his first wife lived in one of the upper flats for a
few years after 1900, after they moved to St. Louis from Sedalia MO.

Joplin's own flat, which has been restored to something approaching
what it might have been like (and without the usual museum paraphenalia
of velvet ropes and such), is dark and narrow, with a few small rooms.

His connection with this specific apartment hangs on the single thread
of one city directory entry.  It could have been a typo.  For someone
of such national prominence (he'd already published "Maple Leaf Rag"
before he came to St. Louis), the documentary record is depressingly
scant.

Two things I had forgotten about Joplin, if I'd ever known: (1) he was
college-educated, and (2) he died of syphilis.

Interesting; I knew (1) but not (2).

Thanks for entering this.  Someday I'd like to visit some of the places
of historical importance to ragtime, most especially Sedalia, MO.  I'm
hoping to be able to attend the annual Joplin festival there next spring.

"Graceful Ghost" is one of the more difficult ragtime pieces I've
undertaken to learn.  I've got the first two strains down reasonably
well, but the third -- which goes all over the map key-wise and
mood-wise -- is slower going.

Recently added James Scott's "Grace and Beauty" to my repertoire.
A sunny piece in A flat major with brief teasing excursions into
into a stormier minor mode, it lives up to its title.

I forgot to mention, above, that the Scott Joplin house museum has a
player piano (treadle pump) for visitors to use, and a big collection
of ragtime music player piano rolls.  I played James Scott's "Kansas
City Rag" and Scott Joplin's "Fig Leaf Rag."

Good choices!

I occasionally play through "Graceful Ghost," though I've never really
worked at getting the B and C sections to be comfortable to play.  All
those accidentals take some getting used to.  I've seen Bolcom play
this piece live on several occasions, and he seems to play it faster
nowadays that I feel it.  I first became familiar with the piece on
the album "Heliotrope Bouquet," which includes pieces by Joseph
Lamb, James Scott, Bolcom and William Albright (another composer at
the U of Mich.).  Bolcom and Albright both play on this recording.
I believe my scratchy copy of this record is about 20 years old...

John, would you care to expand on the comparison of Joplin-Mozart and
Scott-Beethoven?

Re #28, polygon. Out of curiosity, what street or part of St. Loius
was the museum in? I lived there 1974-1979.

  I recently fell into a bargain: A $5 CD of Joplin's rags called "The
Entertainer" played by Richard Zimmerman, and it's worth every penny!

1- The Entertainer
2- Maple Leaf Rag
3- Swipsey
4- Sunflower Slow Drag
5- Easy Winners
6- Ragtime Dance
7- The Cascades
8- Bethena
9- Gladiolus Rag
10-Heliotrope Bouquee
11-Fig Leaf Rag
12-PineApple Rag
13-Solace
14-Euphonic Sounds
15-Stomptime Rag
16-Scott Joplin's New Rag

   What I like about this disc, is that they are played completely; the
average time of a track is 4 mins. I especially like Solace, which is 
6 mins long and absolutly fine. I found this one at Meijer. I don't think
that there was another one, which is a shame.

The ones of those I've heard, I love, and the ones I haven't, I'd love to
hear...

Of all the rags I've heard my favorite is "The Graceful Ghost".
Moody, slippery, and incredibly elegant.

Re #34: I don't think the Joplin/Scott - Mozart/Beethoven
comparison runs all that deep. Scott's rags tend to be more
virtuosic than Joplin's, with crashing chords and more of a
tendency to use the high and low ranges of the keyboard than
Joplin. Joplin has a simpler, sweeter, less dense composing
style. To that extent, Scott is more like Beethoven and Joplin
more like Mozart.

Re #36: I believe that Zimmerman CD is culled from a 5-record
vinyl recording of Joplin's complete piano solo works, done in the
1970's for the Murray Hill label. I've always thought Zimmerman's
interpretations to be excellent and am pleased to hear that at
least some of them are available now on CD. I hope the entire
album is released on CD.

I've been working on learning to play "Graceful Ghost" lately and
think I have it pretty well down except for the difficult third
strain, which still needs a lot of work on my part--those key
modulations are something fierce!  The composer, William Bolcom,
recorded "Graceful Ghost" in the early 1970's on an album called
"Heliotrope Bouquet" that is not available on CD to the best of
my knowledge. On listening to his recording recently, I found
to my surprise that he plays it in a "swing" style (uneven 8th
notes) that is more reminiscent of 1920's jazz than classical
ragtime. I think it works better his way and have taken to
playing it that way myself.

Since I haven't responded to this item in a couple of years, let
me catch y'all up on some things. There's a Ragtime Home Page
on the web (URL: http://www.ragtimers.org) maintained by Mary
Healy, with announcements of upcoming festivals, publishers'
lists of sheet music and recordings, and a *large* collection
of ragtime MIDI recordings available for download (and with
pointers to other MIDI sites). It's an excellent source of
information on ragtime.

For usenet newsers: a newsgroup devoted to ragtime started up
about a year ago - rec.music.ragtime. It's pretty low-volume,
but some interesting and informative threads develop now and
then. Ed Berlin, a performer and ragtime historian, who
published a recent biography of Scott Joplin, is a regular
participant.

On the performing front, I've gotten heavily into James Scott.
It's hard stuff, but I think I have "Grace and Beauty", "Ever-
green Rag", and "Honey Moon Rag" under my belt now, with "Pegasus
Rag" coming along pretty well.  I'd love to master the great
"Efficiency Rag", but the last strain is a killer.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss