![]() In 1916, Joplin descended into dementia as a result of neurosyphilis. His second opera, Treemonisha, was never fully staged during his life. He attempted to go beyond the limitations of the musical form that had made him famous but without much monetary success. In 1907, Joplin moved to New York City to find a producer for a new opera. In 1903, the score to his first opera, A Guest of Honor, was confiscated-along with his belongings-for non-payment of bills (likely as a result of being robbed). ![]() Louis, where he continued to compose and publish and regularly performed in the community. It also brought Joplin a steady income for life. This piece had a profound influence on writers of ragtime. He began publishing music in 1895, and publication of his "Maple Leaf Rag" in 1899 brought him fame. There he taught future ragtime composers Arthur Marshall, Scott Hayden, and Brun Campbell. Joplin moved to Sedalia, Missouri, in 1894 and earned a living as a piano teacher. He went to Chicago for the World's Fair of 1893, which helped make ragtime a national craze by 1897. During the late 1880s, he left his job as a railroad laborer and traveled the American South as an itinerant musician. While in Texarkana, he formed a vocal quartet and taught mandolin and guitar. Joplin grew up in a musical family of railway laborers in Texarkana, Arkansas, developing his own musical knowledge with the help of local teachers. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons. One of his first and most popular pieces, the " Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. From the infectious melody to the challenges it poses for performers, this archetypal rag will keep putting smiles on faces for years to come.Scott Joplin (Novem– April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Maple Leaf Rag is still one of Scott Joplin’s most popular works. As the main melody is repeated near the end as the music moves back into the home key of Ab major, the hands unite for the final chords to create a bold conclusion. The frivolity of the work masks the serious concentration and dexterity required from the performer. The suspended melody line trickles down the scale as Joplin’s chromatic writing grows into fruition. This athletic rag requires focused coordination for both hands to make sure each off-beat inflection and bass line motif meet and part at the right time. Joplin’s persistent use of seventh chords also creates that archetypal sound for a ragtime piece. ![]() The four sections of this rag create diversity in the melody and show the development of the bassline. With Maple Leaf Rag Joplin writes bounding leaps for the bass line and off-beat melodies on the other hand. The march-like style paired with the cakewalk-inspired melody creates the archetypal ragtime composition. The quick tempo and huge leaps for both hands makes this a difficult rag for any pianist. This quintessential rag brings together many aspects of a rag into one neatly packed piano work. It is often known as the most famous ragtime piece that has gone on to inspire a number of composers. Maple Leaf Rag was one of Joplin’s earliest rags for the piano. A number of his piano rags and his opera Treemonisha have become some of the most recognisable music of the genre. ![]() It wasn’t until some ground-breaking recordings done in the 1970s that Joplin’s music found a new lease of life. Joplin’s music went out of fashion, with only a small number of ragtime aficionados keeping his music alive. After Joplin’s death in 1917, ragtime music came out of the ‘mainstream’ line and started to form into the likes of jazz, big band swing and the blues. ![]() Scott Joplin is remembered for being one of the most memorable ragtime composers of the turn-of-the-century during his lifetime (1868-1917). ![]()
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