But it is generally accepted that while on tour, the box office receipts were stolen by someone within the company, leaving Joplin unable to meet the company’s payroll or expenses. Little is known whether it was an all black or racially mixed production, or where and how many performances were actually staged. Around 1904, he created a company of 30 people to produce the national tour of his first opera, A Guest of Honor. Joplin also composed two operas during his life. In all, he created 40 of his original ragtime miniatures, the music he’s best known, and loved for. It was the first instrumental sheet music mega hit of America, and it literally catapulted Joplin’s career. Sales only totaled $400 during the first year, but by 1909 over a half million copies had been sold, providing Joplin with a living income. After seeking the advice of a lawyer and approaching numerous other publishers, Joplin agreed to the publication of the Maple Leaf Rag with a music retailer for to a 1% royalty on all sales, a minimum price of 25 cents, and a prominent inscription to the Maple Leaf Club appearing on the sheet music. Only one was sold, titled The Original, but Joplin had been cheated, forced to add an additional name to the copyright as a term of the deal. In 1896 he published two marches and a waltz, and decided to publish his first two piano rags in 1898. He moved to Sedalia, Missouri in 1894 and whenever not on the road, he would return there to teach music, form his own bands, and play solo piano at the towns two black social clubs – the Black 400 and the Maple Leaf. He appeared at Chicago’s World Fair of 1893, which is credited for helping make ragtime a national craze. Joplin remained a loyal friend to his teacher for the rest of his life, helping to support Weiss in his later years.īy his early teens, Joplin left home to tour the honky tonk and brothels along the Mississippi River as a traveling minstrel. Weiss influenced Joplin by introducing him to folk music, the classical European traditions and opera, which proved to be the foundation of his career. 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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