He never achieved, during his lifetime, the artistic recognition he sought. He therefore composed two operas, a ballet, and two orchestral works (a symphonic poem and a piano concerto, both of which are lost). His musical interests were also considerably broader than what could be expressed in ragtime. However, he realized that ragtime would never bring him the artistic respect that he desired. Joplin naturally did not subscribe to such sentiments.

Opponents of ragtime claimed that the music not only lacked artistic merit it was harmful, as well, to listeners' intellectual, moral, and physical well-being. Ragtime, which was perceived as having African American origins, was placed at the bottom. Opera was at the very peak of this scale. Many (though by no means all) turn-of-the-century writers categorized music according to a strict scale of values: classical music was the 'best' music, having excellence that was moral as well as artistic.

He aspired for success as a composer for the serious, lyric stage. Scott Joplin made his name as 'The King of Ragtime Writers,' but his success in writing popular, syncopated piano pieces did not satisfy him. Two years later, an interviewer wrote that Joplin 'affirms that it is only a pastime for him to compose symcopated music and that he longs for more arduous work.' Joplin was then completing his first opera. He further described Joplin's enthusiasm for the music of Wagner. Louis Choral Symphony Society, declared in 1901 that ragtime composer Scott Joplin was a genius. 1 December 2023.Alfred Ernst, director of the St. 'Joplin, Scott.' Discography of American Historical Recordings. In Discography of American Historical Recordings. 'Joplin, Scott,' accessed December 1, 2023. Guitar and octachorda duet, with clarinet and bass clarinetĭiscography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. Piano duet, with bass and traps (takes 4-6) with tuba and traps (takes 1-3)Ĭinderella Roof Orchestra Herb Wiedoeft = Recordings were issued from this master. = Recordings are available for online listening. In 1976, Joplin was posthumously awarded a Pulitzer Prize.īirth and Death Data: Born Novem( Texas), Died Ap( New York City)ĭate Range of DAHR Recordings: 1906 - 1938 Treemonisha was finally produced in full, to wide acclaim, in 1972. This was followed by the Academy Award–winning 1973 film The Sting, which featured several of Joplin's compositions, most notably 'The Entertainer', a piece performed by pianist Marvin Hamlisch that received wide airplay. Joplin's music was rediscovered and returned to popularity in the early 1970s with the release of a million-selling album recorded by Joshua Rifkin. Joplin's death is widely considered to mark the end of ragtime as a mainstream music format over the next several years, it evolved with other styles into stride, jazz, and, eventually, swing. In mid-January 1917, he was admitted to a mental asylum and died there less than three months later at the age of 48. 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. 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist.

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