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Joplin
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Maple Leaf Rag(1899) "Maple Leaf Rag" marks an era in music composition. It has throttled and silenced those who oppose syncopations. It is played by the cultured of all nations and is welcomed in the drawing rooms and boudoirs of good taste. One million copies have been sold and no abatement of demand. There will be a temporary stop to its sale when every family in the civilized world has a copy.
Fine, but don't take our word for it; get it.
Sunflower Slow Drag
This piece came to light during the high temperature of Scott Joplin's courtship, and while he was touching the ground only in the highest places, his geese were all swans, and Mississippi water tasted like honey-dew...If there ever was a song without words this is that article; hold your ear to the ground while someone plays it and you can hear Scott Joplin's heart beat.
The Ragtime Dance
The Entertainer
All that we have ever said of "Maple Leaf Rag" is true of "The Entertainer" and more may be said of that subtle, soulful quantity not seen in the notes and never found in the marble heart. Hear "The Entertainer" well played and if the harp of your affections doesn't sound an aeolian chord, then we don't want to know you...
Hear it and you can fairly feel the earth wave under your feet. It is as high class as Chopin and is creating a great sensation among musicians.
SCENE: A Fashionable Theatre. Enter Mrs. Van Clausenberg and party--late, of course. MRS. VAN C: "What is the orchestra playing? It is the grandest thing I have ever heard. It is positively inspiring." YOUNG AMERICA (in the seat behind): "Why that is the Cascades by Scott Joplin." MRS. VAN C: "Well, that is one on me. I thought I had heard all the great music, but that is the most thrilling piece I have ever heard. I suppose Joplin is a Pole who was educated in Paris." YOUNG AM.: "Not so you could notice it. He's a young Negro from Texarkana, and the piece they are playing is a rag." (Sensations--Perturbation--Trepidation--and Seven Other Kinds of Emotion.) MRS. VAN C: "****** The idea. The very word ragtime rasps my finer sensibilities. (Rising) I'm going home and I'll never come to this theatre again. I just can't stand trashy music."
The Chrysanthemum
This piece, in its geneology, is beyond our ken. It is an inspiration of Joplin after reading Alice in Wonderland, and is a psychological phenomena. Particulars will be given on application to the Stark Music Co., St. Louis.
The latest by Joplin -- that's all. You will want it.
Heliotrope Bouquet
...the audible poetry of motion
Joplin's very greatest rag, with the possible exception of Maple Leaf. It is woven together with the skill of a Beethoven and breathes the sentiment of the Black Mamma's croon. It will be selling twenty years hence, while the season's "hits" will be crying from your shelves, "Please go away and let me sleep." Sensational title page. See Also: |
