![]() Here was the music that, up until now, I had only heard on the radio. There had always been music in our house, but now sitting down to a keyboard-despite pressing all the wrong notes-became just as much fun as drawing and painting.Ībout a year later, everything shifted again when my eager fingers landed on the music of Scott Joplin-and seemingly overnight, my world changed from sepia to technicolor.Įven at that young age, I felt at once a deep and abiding connection to Joplin and his music. I’ve been drawing pictures and writing stories for as long as I can remember, but when I started taking piano lessons in the 6th grade, a door swung wide open. 2002: Joplin’s only recordings (in the form of seven piano rolls) included as one of the very first additions to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry.My name is Stephen Costanza and I’m an illustrator/author of picture books.1989: Joplin receives a star in the St.1976: Joplin awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his opera “his contributions to American music”.1974: Joplin’s grave in New York finally gets a marker. ![]() 1973: Release of The Sting which featured “The Entertainer”.1972: Joplin’s 1911 opera, Treemonisha - which celebrated black culture, featured feminist themes, and spoke to education as a right for African Americans - performed in its entirety for the first time.1970: Release of Joshua Rifkin’s Scott Joplin: Piano Rags.1917: Joplin dies from syphilitics dementia at the age of 48.1897: Ragtime reaches its initial peak within the United States 1899: Joplin releases “Maple Leaf Rag”.1893: Chicago World Fair takes place where ragtime begins to become popular.1868: Joplin’s born around this time somewhere in Texas.Ideas from ragtime and blues eventually became jazz which continued on to influence swing, rhythm and blues, rock and roll - and well, the rest is history. And this newer concept of what music could be opened the floodgate for other genres to develop. Regardless of these “critics” though, ragtime did take the country by storm. Ernest Hogan wrote a certain 1896 piece which is likely the subgenre’s most popular example, if you’re feeling curious. Moreover, many popular cakewalk songs that were published as sheet music during the 1890s were being referred to by a name I don’t feel comfortable typing. Louis Dispatch, one of the city’s daily newspapers, referred to the music as a “veritable call of the wild, which mightily stirred the pulses of city bred people.” People enjoyed listening to rags not only for their technicality and artistry, but also because they could dance to them.Īt this point, it’s important to mention that ragtime was not without “criticism” (read: racism). Joplin was able to combine elements of American music with elements of European classical music in a novel way, and it resulted in a genre that was refreshingly accessible and lively. So playing music on it that had swing and syncopation was almost unheard of and certainly shocking to many. R egardless of specifics though, it is documented that within five years following the World’s Fair, ragtime had exploded nationally.Īnd what’s important to realize is that at the turn of the century, piano was still closely tied to ideas of elegance and high-class. Although the event didn’t put the spotlight on any black artists and performers, their music was very popular with many in attendance.Īnd while no source can 100% confirm this, it is thought that ragtime was one of those genres, and that it caught its break here. The World’s Fair was attended by 27 million people. However, in 1893, he made his way up to Chicago for the World’s Fair, where he reinvented his “jig piano” repertoire and popularized it as ragtime. He struggled to get by during this time since very few people were willing to pay a black pianist to perform. Sometime in his 20s, Joplin left Texas to become a traveling musician. This thought would eventually lead Joplin towards discovering his signature playing style. Weiss is credited for teaching Joplin music not only as a form of art, but also as entertainment. Given his background, Weiss was no stranger to racism, and recognizing Joplin’s situation and passion, he taught him for free for five years. He received lessons from local teachers, his most significant mentor being Julius Weiss, a German-born Jewish American. His father, a former slave, played fiddle at plantation parties his mother, a freeborn woman, played banjo and sang.īy the time Joplin was seven, he began learning to play piano, and he quickly became very serious about music. Joplin was raised in Arkansas by a family of railway workers. Details about his birth aren’t exactly agreed upon, but it known that he had a musical upbringing from the very start. Scott Joplin was born sometime in 1868 somewhere in Texas.
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