![]() In support of this story, we note its reflection in details of Treemonisha, an opera that Joplin published in 1911. The Joplins lived on both sides of the border.Īnecdotes relate that the young Scott Joplin gained access to a piano in a white-owned home where his mother worked, and taught himself the rudiments of music. They moved to the newly established town of Texarkana, which straddles the Texas-Arkansas border. When he was still a young child, Joplin’s family left the farm on which his father (formerly a slave) worked as a laborer. So then, when was he born? Available documents point to a birth between June 1867 and mid-January 1868. As he was already two at that time (and was twelve when the next Census was taken, in June 1880) indicates that the frequently-cited and celebrated birth date of Novemis incorrect. Census records locate him there in July 1870 as a two-year-old child. It seems he was born in Texas, probably in the northeast part of the state as U.S. We are not quite sure, for example, when or where he was born. Yet, for all his prominence and recognition, many of the facts regarding his life still elude us. There is no question as to Joplin’s greatness, his talent, his importance in the history of ragtime and American music overall. ![]() While Sedalia was Scott Joplin’s home for only a few years, it was a home with a special meaning for him. It’s a story of disrupting the status quo.It is with good reason that Sedalia, Missouri has become central to the Joplin story and the site of the annual Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival. ![]() It’s a story of movement, diversity, and change. The musical Ragtime is the story of a coming together, a joining, a union of different people, experiences, and cultures. It’s a musical motif that comes up again and again throughout the production.īut perhaps the reason that ragtime music is so prominent in this story is because it’s so symbolic. For another, ragtime was the defining musical style of the historical period-so much so that historian Russell Lynes called ragtime “a fanfare for the twentieth century.” Then, of course, you can hear ragtime music throughout the play. So why is this musical called Ragtime? Why is ragtime so important to this story? For one thing, the main character, Coalhouse Walker, is a professional ragtime pianist. From the clubs in Harlem and New Orleans to classical composers in Europe like Debussy and Dvořák, everyone was crazy about ragtime. It was so different from all the other styles that came before it-a true leap in musical progress. All of a sudden, there was energy, life, and movement to music. The works of black ragtime composers-such as Scott Joplin and James Scott-became a part of everyday American life, crossing racial divides even in the midst of blatant inequality. For starters, ragtime really emerged from nineteenth-century African American culture. It’s important to understand the context of ragtime music, especially considering what the musical is all about. In 1913, Scott Joplin, perhaps the most famous ragtime composer of all time (“The Entertainer,” anyone?), said that there was “ragtime music in America ever since the Negro race has been here, but the white people took no notice of it until about twenty years ago.” Regardless, ragtime emerged as a blended, American style of music-and people loved it. However, to say that it was invented at this time would be a mistake. This unique style of music became popular around the turn of the century early twentieth-century clubs and music halls were brimming with energetic ragtime. A syncopated top melody above a steady beat is classic ragtime. Taking the steady march music popularized by John Philip Sousa some time earlier, and adding ragged African syncopation, creates a style rife with energy and excitement. Ragtime is full of syncopated rhythms, or notes played on the off beats. It’s easy to tell when you’re hearing ragtime: you’ll hear a “ragged” beat. ![]() It is a combination of classical European music with various African styles. Like America itself, ragtime is a synthesis, a melting pot of styles and cultures. ![]() Ragtime is sometimes considered the first truly American form of music. It is a group of disparate stories and themes, like an orchestra with many different instruments all playing to the same tune, the same style: ragtime. This season’s musical, Ragtime, is about a lot of things-the struggles of immigrants and the working class, the ignorance of white middle-class America, racial tensions and inequality, and the innovations and lives of several historical figures. Ragtime: The First True American Form of Music ![]()
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