![]() ![]() ![]() He was surrounded by work songs, gospel hymns, spirituals and dance music until Julius Weiss, a German born music teacher, took an interest in the boys talent, and tutored him without charge and even helped the family acquire a piano of their own. As a child, he taught himself the piano on an instrument in one of the white owned homes where she worked. His father was a former slave who worked as as a laborer, and his mother was a maid. As far as we know, he was most probably born near Texarkana, Texas around 1868. But the details of his life aren’t clear. ![]() Joplin was intelligent, well mannered and well-spoken, but a quiet and serious man who profoundly believed in education and its power to eradicate racial inequality. It was that recognition as a composer who refined and elevated ragtime beyond the cheap dances and songs that were heard in the honky-tonks of red light districts that Joplin wanted most. And each piece was to be performed exactly as he had written – without improvisation. He provided detailed instructions regarding tempo and proper performance techniques for the “miniatures” he composed. For him, they were classical music, and he was a classical composer of a new art form melding Afro-American music with European romanticism. Ironically, Joplin never thought of his music as jazz. He was only 48 years old when he died, and his sparkling, syncopated rhythms that had captivated listeners were already fading in popularity as the public began turning its attention to stride piano and other, newer forms of jazz. While he didn’t invent ragtime, Joplin achieved enormous success and fame as the Ragtime King after composing the Maple Leaf Rag, the most popular and influential hit of its day. When I was recently asked to perform selections of Scott Joplin for an upcoming performance, I decided it was time to revisit the iconic composer before deciding on the repertoire. ![]()
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