The King of Ragtime
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin (1867 –1917) was an African-American popular music composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later titled "The King of Ragtime". During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf Rag", became ragtime's first and most influential hit, and has been recognized as the archetypal rag.
The original sheet music for Maple Leaf Rag.
The
Maple Leaf Rag (copyright registered 18 September 1899) is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and became the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces. Royalties from the sheet music sales of
Maple Leaf Rag gave Joplin a steady if unspectacular income for the rest of his life.
In 1907, Joplin moved from St. Louis to New York City, seeking to find a producer for a new opera. He attempted to go beyond the limitations of the musical form which made him famous, without much monetary success. His second opera,
Treemonisha, was not received well at its partially staged performance in 1915.
In 1916, suffering from tertiary syphilis and by consequence rapidly deteriorating health, Joplin descended into dementia. He was admitted to a mental institution in January 1917, and died there three months later at the age of 49.
Below is a rare version of
Maple Leaf Rag taken from a player piano roll that was originally played by Scott Joplin: