Scott Joplin — The King of Ragtime Writers

Featuring the Maple Leaf Rag (1899) by Scott Joplin and other Joplin Rags

By Ted Tjaden

(originally published June 2006 and updated periodically)

Recordings available on this page (see below): Maple Leaf Rag (performed by Ted Tjaden)

Sheet music available on this page: See below to download or view the sheet music for ragtime compositions by Scott Joplin. Recommended reading: Edward Berlin, King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and his Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995).

Scott Joplin is regarded by most as the "King" of Ragtime Writers, in part due to his early success with the best-selling Maple Leaf Rag (below) but more importantly due to the enduring nature and quality of his ragtime compositions. This page sets out information on Scott Joplin in the following topics:

1) Introduction [top]

Although classic ragtime piano is a relatively narrow aspect of music, most people have heard of Scott Joplin, or if not, they have heard some of his more well known compositions, including The Entertainer (below) or The Maple Leaf Rag (below).

Although the popularity of the Maple Leaf Rag made Joplin a relatively well-known composer, perhaps more so after his death, it was the enduring quality of his compositions that have cemented his reputation as the "King of Ragtime Writers." John Stark, the main publisher for the "Big 3" ragtime composers (Scott Joplin, James Scott and Joseph Lamb), was prone to fanciful puffery in his sales brochures for the rags he published, but there is something to be said for Stark's descriptions of these rags: We have advertised these as classic rags, and we mean just what we say. They are the perfection of type. "The glass of fashion and the mold of form." "Age cannot whither or custom stale their infinite variety". They have lifted ragtime from its low estate and lined it up with Beethoven and Bach" (Stark ad, page 23, in Ragtime Review (Vol 1, No 2: January 1915).

Jasen and Tichenor (1987:83) describe Joplin's compositions in these terms:

He combined the traditions of Afro-American music folk music with nineteenth-century European romanticism; he collected the black Midwestern Folk rag ideas as raw material for the creation of original strains. Thus, his rags are the most heavily pentatonic, with liberal use of blue notes and other outstanding features that characterize black folk music. In this creative synthesis, . . . the traditional march became the dominant form, and the result was a new art form, the Classic rag – a unique conception which paradoxically both forged the way for early serious ragtime composition, and, at the same time, developed along insular lines, away from most other ragtime playing and composing.

Fortunately, Joplin's rags have been widely recorded (see below) and published and there is much commentary on his music available. The launch of the movie The Sting in 1973, which featured a number of Scott Joplin compositions as part of the soundtrack, was responsible for extending the ragtime revival of the 1950's to the present day (with Joplin's The Entertainer, featured in the movie, making it in the "Top 10" of the "Songs of the Century" as determined by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment of the Arts). Ironically, the movie was set during the Depression, about 10 to 20 years after ragtime's heyday, making the music of Joplin chosen for the movie slightly anachronistic.







2) Life of Scott Joplin (1868 ~ 1917) [top]

Fortunately, much has already been written about the life of Scott Joplin. I highly recommend Edward Berlin's King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and his Era (NY: Oxford University Press, 1995) as being the definitive biography on Scott Joplin (Berlin has his own webpage here). Berlin has also prepared a brief online biography of Scott Joplin for the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation). Another useful research resource on Scott Joplin is Nancy Ping-Robbins' Scott Joplin: A Guide to Research (New York: Garland Pub, 1998), which contains 1,268 separate bibliographic entries or citations for information on Joplin and the ragtime era. Because so much has already been written about Scott Joplin, I set out below only some of the more significant events in his life:

The Early Years and Family Life

Most references cite November 24, 1868, as the date Scott Joplin was born, but research by Berlin (1995:4-5) suggests that this date, based on what is likely the faulty memory of Joplin's widow, may be in error. Census data surrounding Joplin's age is also inconsistent and hence inconclusive. Despite this, Joplin's date of birth is likely sometime in 1868, give or take a small period of time. In his online biography of Scott Joplin, Berlin suggests that Joplin was most likely born sometime between June 1867 and mid-January 1868. Joplin grew up in a musical family, likely initially in northeastern Texas. He had an older brother (Monroe) and a younger brother (Robert) and three younger siblings. At some point, the family moved to Texarkana, possibly as early as 1875 when Scott Joplin would have been around 7 years old (Berlin, 1995:7). Brother Robert himself became a well known dancer and vaudevillian (Berlin, 1995:7). Joplin showed some promise as a youth on the piano and took lessons from various local piano teachers. Of note, most biographers emphasize the influence that Julius Weiss, a German piano teacher, had on shaping Joplin's early musical influences (Berlin, 1995:7; Jasen and Jones, 2000:26). For a good overview of Joplin's early life, see Addison Reed's chapter entitled "Scott Joplin: Pioneer" in JE Hasse, ed, Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1985:117-36. Scott Joplin formed a vocal quartet that performed in Texarkana; in addition, Joplin appears to have played piano there in dance halls and taught guitar and mandolin (Berlin, 1995:7). It appears that Joplin left Texarkana sometime in his teens, likely pursuing life on the saloon and honky-tonk circuit throughout Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky as a pianist (Berlin, 1995:8). Berlin raises the possibility that Joplin lived in Sedalia, Missouri, during this time and even went to Lincoln High School, an all black school in that city (Berlin, 1995:8). In 1891, Joplin was part of the Texarkana Ministrels that faced some controversy at a performance in Texarkana that summer where it turned out that part of the proceeds were being raised for Jefferson Davis, the former President of the Confederate States of America and supporter of slavery (Berlin, 1995:9-10).

It is believed that Joplin would have been in Chicago for the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, which is where ragtime as a musical form began to develop and be known to a wider white audience (Berlin, 1995:11). Berlin reports that Joplin met Otis Saunders, another ragtime pianist, at the Fair and the two of them went to St Louis and then Sedalia when the Fair ended in October 1893. (Berlin, 1995:9-12).

Time in Sedalia (circa 1894 to 1901)

Berlin (1995:85) notes that on his departure from Sedalia in 1901, Joplin "was well known locally as both a pianist and composer, was quickly gaining nationwide fame as the composer of the Maple Leaf Rag, and was soon to be known as "the king of ragtime writers."

Time in St Louis (circa 1901 to 1907)

Compared to Sedalia, St Louis in 1901 was a much larger and more vibrant city. Berlin notes that Joplin first moved to the city's red-light district which was "a major center for the early development of black Midwestern ragtime" (1995:89). This was a prolific time for Joplin, with a number of his compositions being published in St Louis by John Stark, who had also moved to St Louis. In 1903, Joplin filed a copyright application for an opera called Guest of Honor, which was briefly performed on tour, but unfortunately, Joplin was unable to cover the payroll after a certain point, and his possessions, including the score to the opera, were seized, and to this date, no known copy of Guest of Honor has survived (Berlin, 1995: Chapter 7). In 1904, the St Louis World Fair (the Louisiana Purchase Exposition) brought a number of ragtime pianists to the area. It would have been an exciting time to hear ragtime piano (although the Fair was not without controversy because of the continuing discrimination that blacks faced). Berlin, for example, describes a "cutting contest" between Tom Turpin and Louis Chauvin (Chauvin won) (1995:134). It is likely that Joplin wrote The Cascades (below) to commemorate the Cascades Gardens at the World Fair, pictured on the cover of his sheet music (see below). Also in 1904, Joplin met a 19-year old woman, Freddie Alexander, to whom he dedicated The Chrysanthemum (below). They were married shortly thereafter on June 14, 1904. After the marriage, the couple went to Sedalia where Joplin performed. However, his new wife took sick and eventually died of pneumonia on September 10, 1904. Berlin (1995:208) has an interesting theory that Joplin may have memorialized Freddie in the main character in his opera Treemonisha. During the two and one half years following the death of Freddie, Berlin (1995:161) notes that Joplin's output was significantly diminished with the publication of only three new rags (Leola, Eugenia, and The Nonpareil, all below), Bethena (below) and a number of less successful compositions. In 1905, John Stark opened an office in New York (Berlin, 1995:151). However, it appears that Stark found the sheet music industry in New York cutthroat and extremely competitive since he only lasted in New York until 1910 (Berlin, 1995:195).

Trivia: Joplin's Augustan Club Waltzes (below) should have been spelled "Augusta i n" after the Augustain Club in Sedalia (Berlin, 1995:79-80). In addition, Joplin's Bink's Waltz (below) should have been named "Bing's" waltz, the nickname of the boy in whose honor the piece was composed (Berlin, 1995:149).

Time in New York (1907 to 1917)

Joplin moved to New York, likely in the summer of 1907. Berlin (1995:223-25) discusses detailed research regarding Lottie Joplin, who Joplin "married" (likely in a common law marriage) sometime in the late 1910's. Lottie also ran a boarding house and appears to have managed some of Joplin's late career, being a partner in Scott Joplin Music Publishing Ltd, which published Magnetic Rag in 1914 (below). Lottie survived Scott Joplin's death and continued to be involved in the affairs of his estate by renewing copyrights in his compositions. Berlin discusses some of the litigation surrounding Joplin's estate in Chapter 13 of his book. Joplin made contact with several new publishers in New York, including: Joseph Stern, who published Gladious Rag (1907) (below), Searchlight Rag (1907) (below), Stoptime Rag (1910) (below) and Scott Joplin's New Rag (1912) (below); Joseph Daly, who published Rose Leaf Rag (1907) (below); and, Seminary Music, who was the selling agent for Joplin's piano exercises entitled School of Ragtime (1908) (below) and who also published Sugar Cane (1908) (below), Pine Apple Rag (1908) (below), Wall Street Rag (1909) (below), Solace: A Mexican Serenade (1909) (below), Pleasant Moments: Ragtime Waltz (1909) (below), Country Club (1909) (below), Paragon Rag (1909) (below), and Euphonic Sounds (1909) (below). It is likely that Joplin explored publishers other than John Stark due in part to a growing rift between the two men regarding Stark's reluctance to pay royalties (Berlin, 1995:186). Late in 1907, it is believed that Joplin met with Joseph Lamb in Stark's New York store (Berlin, 1995:173). Later Lamb visited Joplin and played several of his rags. It is likely that Joplin played an influential role in having Lamb's compositions published with Stark. Evidence of this is Joplin being named as "arranger" of Sensation (available here), although it is likely that Lamb wrote and arranged the piece himself. Despite his increasingly declining health, life in New York was relatively good for Joplin, where he was enjoying some public success (Berlin, 1995: 192): In New York, he displayed a renewed vigor. In a span of two and a half years he had sixteen publications: twelve independent rags, one collaborative rag, one syncopated waltz, one habanera and one instruction manual. Many of these publications were artistic successes, both developing ideas introduced earlier and pointing to new directions in ragtime.

It is believed that Joplin finished his opera, Treemonisha (see below), in 1910. He apparently approached a number of publishers, including Stark, Seminary and Joseph Stern, each of whom rejected his 230-page score. Joplin eventually published the opera himself in 1911 (Berlin, 1995:198). More information on Treemonisha is available here; the Library of Congress also has an online essay on Treemonisha here.

Left: Cover page of dance "Frolic of the Bears" from Treemonisha.

Joplin was described as depressed and morose by William Sullivan, a white Canadian who was taking piano lessons from Joplin in New York from about 1910 to 1912: Berlin (1995:213). Apparently he was depressed over money, health and the difficulties he was facing in getting Treemonisha staged.

Joplin's later rags became much more complex and sophisticated, including Euphonic Sounds (below), Paragon Rag (below) and Stoptime Rag (below), and his final rag, Magnetic Rag (below). Berlin (1995:220) describes his later works as "stretching the boundaries." For a detailed analysis of Joplin's late rags, see Guy Waterman's chapter entitled "Joplin's Late Rags: An Analysis" in JE Hasse, ed, Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1985:232-42.

Berlin (1995:233) effectively summarizes Joplin's last years in New York, a time when his compositions were growing in complexity at the same time his health was seriously declining: Though the 46-year old Joplin was almost at the end of his career, in seriously declining health, he was not declining as a musician. He was still master of his craft, at the height of his creative powers. He was continuing to respond to his musical environment, thinking in new ways, creating a new type of ragtime. This was a growing, dynamic composer betrayed by a failing body. Joplin became quite sick in early 1917 and entered Bellevue Hospital. On February 3, 1917, he was transferred to the mental ward of Manhattan State Hospital. He died there on April 1, 1917, at the age of approximately 49 from "demential paralytica" likely caused by syphillis: Berlin (1995:238). Stark published Reflection Rag (below), which Joplin likely wrote in around 1907, as a tribute to Joplin after Joplin died (Berlin, 1995:240). Joplin also achieved posthumous fame in a number of other ways, including the staging of Treemonisha on Broadway and other venues, having his music featured in the 1973 movie The Sting, being awarded a special Bicentennial Pulitzer Prize in 1976 for his contribution to American music, having Billy Dee Williams portray him in a 1977 movie about his life, and having his portrait issued on an American stamp in 1983.

3) Sheet Music of Scott Joplin Compositions [top]

The sheet music below of Scott Joplin compositions is set out roughly chronologically into the following three sections: (a) Joplin rags, marches and waltzes; (b) compositions on which Joplin collaborated or arranged; and (c) Joplin songs.





a) Joplin Rags, Marches and Waltzes [top]









b) Joplin Collaborations and Arrangements [top]







c) Joplin Songs [top]





4) Recordings of Scott Joplin Compositions [top]

Set out below is an experimental .MP3 of me playing Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag. I hope to add more recordings in the future.

There are also a number of widely available commercial recordings of Scott Joplin compositions:

Commercial Recordings of Scott Joplin Compositions: Set out below is only a select list of Joplin recordings; there are many, many more available. Guido Nielsen, Scott Joplin: The Complete, Rags, Marches, Waltzes & Songs. Basta Records, 2004. Purchase details here. John Arpin, John Arpin Plays Scott Joplin, Vol 1 and 2. Purchase details here. Joshua Rifkin, Scott Joplin Piano Rags. Nonesuch Records, 1990. Purchase details here. Richard Zimmerman, Scott Joplin: His Complete Works. Bescol Records, 1994. Purchase details here. I hope to shortly order the following CD from Deutsche Grammophon, a recording from 2005 of Joplin's Treemonisha: Gunther Schuller, conductor. Treemonisha (Deutsche Grammophon). Purchase details here.

MIDI Recordings of Scott Joplin Compositions A number of ragtime music enthusiasts have made MIDI recordings of Scott Joplin compositions available for free on the Internet: Pianola.co.nz: Connorized piano rolls of Scott Joplin

Bill Edwards ("Perfessor" Bill): see http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmidi15.shtml (52 compositions by Scott Joplin) and http://www.perfessorbill.com/albums/index.html (various CDs that include compositions by Scott Joplin) Sue Keller: see http://www.rtpress.com/titles.htm#authors (9 compositions by Scott Joplin) Warren Trachtman: see http://www.trachtman.org/ragtime/ (28 compositions by Scott Joplin)







5 ) Bibliography [top]

Berlin, Edward. "A Biography of Scott Joplin (c 1867-1917)" (1998) (available online here).

Berlin, Edward. "Eleanor Stark: From Moszkowski to Classic Ragtime" in Music, American Made: Essays in Honor of John Graziano. Sterling Heights, MI: Harmonie Park Press, 2011.

Berlin, Edward. King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Berlin, Edward. Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1980. Blesh, Rudi & Harriet Grossman Janis. They All Played Ragtime. 4th ed. New York: Oak Publications, 1966. Curtis, Susan. Dancing to a Black Man's Tune. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1994. Frew, Timothy. Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime. New York: Friedman Fairfax, 1996. Gammond, Peter. Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era. London: Angus & Robertson, 1975. Hasse, JE, ed. Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1985. Hubbard-Brown, Janet. Scott Joplin. New York: Chelsea House, 2006. Jasen, David & Gene Jones. That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast. New York: Schirmer Books, 2000. Jasen, David & Trebor Jay Tichenor. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History. New York: Dover Publications, 1978. Piras, Marcello. "Treemonisha, or Der Freischütz Upside Down" (2012) 4 Current Research in Jazz, available online: http://www.crj-online.org/v4/CRJ-Treemonisha.php. Ping-Robbins, Nancy. Scott Joplin: A Guide to Research. New York: Garland Pub, 1998. Reed, Addison. "Scott Joplin: Pioneer" in JE Hasse, ed, Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1985:117-36. Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation. Home page: <http://www.scottjoplin.org/>. Total Joplin: The Complete Works of Scott Joplin (CD-ROM, Sunhawk, 1996). Introduction by Trebor Tichenor. Introduces the user to the life and music of America's ragtime composer Scott Joplin. Includes the complete collection of scores and digitally restored sheet music covers, rarely published Williams-Walker prints, a multimedia review of Joplin's life, and more than five hours of classic ragtime hits. Waldo, Terry. This is Ragtime. New York: De Capo Press, 1991.

Waterman, Guy. "Joplin's Late Rags: An Analysis" in JE Hasse, ed, Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmer Books, 1985:232-42.

