Description
Magnetic Rag was written and self-published in 1914 by the American composer Scott Joplin (1868-1917). Joplin was suffering from the latter stages of syphilis and the Magnetic Rag was the last rag to be published during his lifetime.
With its unusual musical form and his use of varying phrase lengths the Magnetic Rag was quite unlike any other he’d written, leading some to suggest that he was trying to be more progressive and experimental. Perhaps in attempting to combine the characteristics of classical Western music and traditional ragtime he was trying to give the piece a more serious aspect. This would certainly explain his use of Italian tempo markings and the 4/4 time signature (rather than the usual 2/4).
It has about it a gentle quality like The Entertainer but its use of minor keys lends the piece a melancholy almost entirely unheard in his earlier works.
