Description
Scott Joplin, dubbed the “King of Ragtime”, was an African American composer and pianist of the first post-slavery generation. Drawing much inspiration from gospel hymns, spirituals and plantation songs he wrote 38 piano rags, one of the first of which, the Maple Leaf Rag, was an immediate success and ragtime’s first and most influential hit.
Joplin wrote 1908 Pineapple Rag in New York and it is widely thought of as one of Joplin’s best and most popular works. Aside from its infectious melodies and signature syncopations listen out for the pioneering Boogie Woogie bass line and jazz blues’ flattened sevenths!
Sadly, only a handful of Joplin’s rags were successful during his lifetime and he died penniless aged 49. It was not until the early 1970s and Joshua Rifkin’s massively successful albums of Joplin’s rags that he commanded much attention. This revival was followed up in the 1973 film The Sting which featured a number of Scott Joplin compositions (including Pineapple Rag) in its soundtrack. In 1976 Joplin was officially ‘recognised’ and was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.
Also available in a version for wind quintet.
