83-410: The " Maple Leaf Rag " (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin . It was one of Joplin's early works, becoming the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It is one of the most famous of all ragtime pieces. Its success led to Joplin being dubbed the "King of Ragtime" by his contemporaries. The piece gave Joplin
166-626: A 1913 interview published in the black newspaper New York Age , Scott Joplin asserted that there had been "ragtime music in America ever since the Negro race has been here, but the white people took no notice of it until about twenty years ago [in the 1890s]." Ragtime quickly established itself as a distinctly American form of popular music . Ragtime became the first African American music to have an impact on mainstream popular culture. Piano "professors" such as Jelly Roll Morton played ragtime in
249-496: A compilation of some of Joplin's rags in period orchestrations edited by conservatory president Gunther Schuller . It won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance of the year and was named Top Classical Album of 1974 by Billboard magazine. The film The Sting (1973) brought ragtime to a wide audience with its soundtrack of Joplin tunes. The film's rendering of "The Entertainer", adapted and orchestrated by Marvin Hamlisch ,
332-495: A contract with John Stillwell Stark on August 10, 1899 for a royalty of one cent ($ 0.37 in 2023) on all sales of the rag, with a minimum sales price of 25 cents($ 9.16 in 2023). The "Maple Leaf Rag" was published between August 10 and September 20, 1899, when the United States Copyright Office received two copies of the score. It was reissued in 1900 or 1901 with a new cover showing a green maple leaf and
415-524: A drama in three acts, composed in the early 1900s in memory of his friend J. P. Contamine de Latour. In 1902 the American cakewalk was very popular in Paris and Satie two years later wrote two rags, La Diva de l'empire and Piccadilly . Despite the two Anglo-Saxon settings, the tracks appear American-inspired. La Diva de l'empire , a march for piano soloist, was written for Paulette Darty and initially bore
498-556: A great hit and demonstrated more depth and sophistication than earlier ragtime. Ragtime was one of the main influences on the early development of jazz (along with the blues ). Some artists, such as Jelly Roll Morton , were present and performed both ragtime and jazz styles during the period the two styles overlapped. He also incorporated the Spanish tinge in his performances, which gave a habanera or tango rhythm to his music. Jazz largely surpassed ragtime in mainstream popularity in
581-503: A group organized by ragtime composer and pianist Lewis F. Muir who toured Europe. Immensely popular with British audiences, the ARO popularized several of Muir's rags (such as " Waiting for the Robert E. Lee " and " Hitchy-Koo ") which were credited by historian Ian Whitcomb as the first American popular songs to influence British culture and music. The ARO recorded some of Muir's rags with
664-426: A melody that seems to be avoiding some metrical beats of the accompaniment by emphasizing notes that either anticipate or follow the beat ("a rhythmic base of metric affirmation, and a melody of metric denial" ). The ultimate (and intended) effect on the listener is actually to accentuate the beat, thereby inducing the listener to move to the music. Scott Joplin, the composer/pianist known as the "King of Ragtime", called
747-679: A million copies. Tom Fletcher , a vaudeville entertainer and the author of 100 Years of the Negro in Show Business , has stated that "Hogan was the first to put on paper the kind of rhythm that was being played by non-reading musicians." While the success of "All Coons Look Alike to Me" helped popularize the country to ragtime rhythms, its use of racial slurs created a number of derogatory imitation tunes, known as " coon songs " because of their use of racist and stereotypical images of black people. In Hogan's later years, he admitted shame and
830-465: A note on the sheet music for the song "Leola" Joplin wrote, "Notice! Don't play this piece fast. It is never right to play 'ragtime' fast." E. L. Doctorow used the quotation as the epigraph to his novel Ragtime . Ragtime pieces came in a number of different styles during the years of its popularity and appeared under a number of different descriptive names. It is related to several earlier styles of music, has close ties with later styles of music, and
913-546: A permanent residence there before 1904. Joplin arrived in Sedalia in 1894 as a touring musician and stayed with the family of Arthur Marshall , who later became one of Joplin's students and a ragtime composer in his own right. Joplin played as a solo musician at dances and at the major black clubs in Sedalia, among them the "Maple Leaf Club". It is possible that the rag was named after the Maple Leaf Club, although there
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#1732779971697996-420: A photograph of Joplin. In 1903, Stark issued a "Maple Leaf Rag Song", an arrangement of Joplin's music with words by Sydney Brown. The "Maple Leaf Rag" is a multi- strain ragtime march with athletic bass lines and offbeat melodies . Each of the four parts features a recurring theme and a striding bass line with copious seventh chords . The piece may be considered the "archetypal rag" due to its influence on
1079-473: A recording called Scott Joplin: Piano Rags on the classical label Nonesuch , which featured as its first track the "Maple Leaf Rag". It sold 100,000 copies in its first year and eventually became Nonesuch's first million-selling record. The Billboard "Best-Selling Classical LPs" chart for September 28, 1974 has the record at number 5, with the follow-up "Volume 2" at number 4, and a combined set of both volumes at number 3. Separately both volumes had been on
1162-407: A sense of "race betrayal" from the song, while also expressing pride in helping bring ragtime to a larger audience. The emergence of mature ragtime is usually dated to 1897, the year in which several important early rags were published. "Harlem Rag" by Tom Turpin and "Mississippi Rag" by William Krell were both release that year. In 1899, Scott Joplin's " Maple Leaf Rag " was published and became
1245-399: A steady if unspectacular income for the rest of his life. Despite ragtime's decline after Joplin's death in 1917, the "Maple Leaf Rag" continued to be recorded by many well-known artists. The ragtime revival of the 1970s brought it back to mainstream public notice once again. The "Maple Leaf Rag" is associated with the city of Sedalia, Missouri , although there is no record of Joplin having
1328-538: A visit to Harlem during his trip in 1922. Even the Swiss composer Honegger wrote works in which the influence of African American music is pretty obvious. Examples include Pacific 231 , Prélude et Blues and especially the Concertino for piano and orchestra. Igor Stravinsky wrote a solo piano work called Piano-Rag-Music in 1919 and also included a rag in his theater piece L'Histoire du soldat (1918). In
1411-553: A year later, but there are no known copies which have survived. The earliest surviving record of the rag comes from the second known recording of the rag by the United States Marine Band from 1906. While Joplin never made an audio recording, his playing is preserved on seven piano rolls for use in mechanical player pianos . All seven were made in 1916. Berlin theorizes that by the time Joplin made these recordings he may have been experiencing discoordination of
1494-476: Is Zez Confrey , whose "Kitten on the Keys" popularized the style in 1921. Ragtime also served as the roots for stride piano , a more improvisational piano style popular in the 1920s and 1930s. Elements of ragtime found their way into much of the American popular music of the early 20th century. It also played a central role in the development of the musical style later referred to as Piedmont blues ; indeed, much of
1577-506: Is headquartered in Tasley . The county is served by Accomack County Public Schools . It is the only school district in the county. High schools and K-12 schools in this district are: Eastern Shore Community College is located near Melfa . The county maintains and is the licensee of six television translator stations on two towers, with four located on a tower off US 13 in unincorporated Mappsville licensed to Onancock, and
1660-575: Is land and 861 square miles (2,230 km ) (65.7%) is water. It is the largest county in Virginia by total area. The state of Delaware is roughly 36 miles (58 km) away from the Virginia and Maryland state-line in Greenbackville. As of 2022, the median household income in the county is $ 50,601 and the per capita income is $ 29,202. As of the census of 2010, there were 33,164 people, 15,299 households, and 10,388 families residing in
1743-468: Is no direct evidence to prove the link, and there were probably many other possible sources for the name in and around Sedalia at the time. Although there were hundreds of rags in print by the time of the "Maple Leaf Rag's" publication, Joplin was not far behind. His first published rag was " Original Rags " (March 1899). The "Maple Leaf Rag" was already known in Sedalia prior to its publication in 1899; composer and pianist Brun Campbell claimed to have seen
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#17327799716971826-596: The 39th greatest song of all time . Most recently, Maple Leaf Rag was featured as one of the piano exam pieces in Grade 8 for the years 2025 and 2026, by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) . In Joplin's will, he requested that "Maple Leaf Rag" be played at his funeral. When preparations were being made, however, his wife, Lottie Stokes did not allow it, because she did not think it
1909-666: The Eastern Shore of Virginia , which in turn is part of the Delmarva Peninsula , bordered by the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean . Accomac is the county seat . The Eastern Shore of Virginia was known as " Accomac Shire ," until it was renamed Northampton County in 1642. The present Accomack County was created from Northampton County in 1663. The county and the original shire were named for
1992-725: The Virginia General Assembly re-created it in 1671. In 1940, the General Assembly officially added a "k" to the end of the county's name to arrive at its current spelling. The name of "Accomack County" first appeared in the Decisions of the United States Board on Geographical Names in 1943. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,310 square miles (3,400 km ), of which 450 square miles (1,200 km )
2075-422: The big band sounds that predominated in the 1920s and 1930s when they adopted smoother rhythmic styles. There have been numerous revivals since newer styles supplanted ragtime in the 1920s. First in the early 1940s, many jazz bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire and put out ragtime recordings on 78 rpm records . A more significant revival occurred in the 1950s as a wider variety of ragtime genres of
2158-452: The "ragged or syncopated rhythm" of the right hand. A rag written in 4 time is a "ragtime waltz". Ragtime is not a meter in the same way that marches are in duple meter and waltzes are in triple meter; it is rather a musical style that uses an effect that can be applied to any meter. The defining characteristic of ragtime music is a specific type of syncopation in which melodic accents occur between metrical beats. This results in
2241-406: The "sporting houses" ( bordellos ) of New Orleans. Polite society embraced ragtime as disseminated by brass bands and "society" dance bands. Bands led by W. C. Handy and James R. Europe were among the first to crash the color bar in American music. The new rhythms of ragtime changed the world of dance bands and led to new dance steps, popularized by the show-dancers Vernon and Irene Castle during
2324-601: The 1910s. The growth of dance orchestras in popular entertainment was an outgrowth of ragtime and continued into the 1920s. Ragtime also made its way to Europe. Shipboard orchestras on transatlantic lines included ragtime music in their repertoire. In 1912, the first public concerts of ragtime were performed in the United Kingdom by the American Ragtime Octette (ARO) at the Hippodrome, London ;
2407-558: The 1920s, ragtime has experienced several revivals, notably in the 1950s and 1970s (the latter renaissance due in large part to the use of "The Entertainer" in the film The Sting ). The music was distributed primarily through sheet music and piano rolls , with some compositions adapted for other instruments and ensembles. Ragtime music was developed long before it was printed as sheet music. It had its origins in African American communities of St. Louis , Missouri . Most of
2490-505: The 1930s giving it up-to-date adaptations, maintaining a timeless quality to it. As an indication of its persistent popularity and recognition, it was performed on phonograph records six times in each of the three decades after its first publication. In 1930, it was featured in the gangster movie classic, The Public Enemy . "Maple Leaf Rag" was the Joplin piece found most often on 78 rpm records. In November 1970, Joshua Rifkin released
2573-407: The 1950s. A wider variety of ragtime styles of the past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published, and recorded. Much of the ragtime recorded in this period is presented in a light-hearted novelty style, looked to with nostalgia as the product of a supposedly more innocent time. A number of popular recordings featured " prepared pianos ", playing rags on pianos with tacks on
Maple Leaf Rag - Misplaced Pages Continue
2656-659: The Accawmack Indians, who resided in the area when the English first explored it in 1603. As of the 2020 census , the total population was 33,413 people. The population of Accomack has remained relatively stable over the 20th century, though Accomack is one of the poorest parts of Virginia. The county was named for its original residents, the Accomac people , an Eastern Algonquian -speaking Native American tribe. Members of an English voyage of exploration landed in
2739-656: The British record label The Winner Records in 1912; the first ragtime recordings made in Europe. James R. Europe's 369th Regiment band generated great enthusiasm during its 1918 tour of France. Ragtime was an influence on early jazz ; the influence of Jelly Roll Morton continued in the Harlem stride piano style of players such as James P. Johnson and Fats Waller . Ragtime was also a major influence on Piedmont blues . Dance orchestras started evolving away from ragtime towards
2822-571: The Scott Joplin revival." An 8-bit version of the music is used in the 1983 Bally Midway arcade game Domino Man as background music. The "Maple Leaf Rag" is still a favorite of ragtime pianists , and has been described as an "American institution ... still in print and still popular". As the copyright has expired, the composition is in the public domain . It appears in the soundtracks of hundreds of films, cartoons, commercials, and video games. In 2004, Canadian radio listeners voted it
2905-534: The US, that also educated and entertained audiences about ragtime. New ragtime composers soon followed, including Morath, Donald Ashwander , Trebor Jay Tichenor , John Arpin , William Bolcom , and William Albright . In 1971, Joshua Rifkin released a compilation of Joplin's work which was nominated for a Grammy Award . In 1973, The New England Ragtime Ensemble (then a student group called The New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble) recorded The Red Back Book ,
2988-610: The area in 1603, four years before the founding of the Jamestown Colony . Captain John Smith visited the region in 1608. The Accomac people at the time numbered around 6,000 and was led by Debedeavon , a paramount chief , whom the English colonists called the "Laughing King." He became a staunch ally of the colonists, granting them several large areas for their own use. Accomac Shire was established in 1634 as one of
3071-478: The chart for 64 weeks. The album was nominated in 1971 for two Grammy Award categories: Best Album Notes and Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without orchestra) , but at the ceremony on March 14, 1972, Rifkin did not win in any category. In 1979 Alan Rich in New York magazine wrote that by giving artists like Rifkin the opportunity to put Joplin's music on disk Nonesuch Records "created, almost alone,
3154-408: The county. The population density was 84 people per square mile (32 people/km ). There were 19,550 housing units at an average density of 43 units per square mile (17 units/km ). The racial makeup of the county was 65.3% White , 28.1% Black or African American , 0.4% Native American , 0.6% Asian , 0.1% Pacific Islander , 3.9% from other races , and 1.6% from two or more races. 8.6% of
3237-426: The definition but include novelty piano and stride piano (a modern perspective), while Edward A. Berlin includes ragtime songs and excludes the later styles (which is closer to how ragtime was viewed originally). The terms below should not be considered exact, but merely an attempt to pin down the general meaning of the concept. European Classical composers were influenced by the form. The first contact with ragtime
3320-423: The early 1920s, although ragtime compositions continue to be written up to the present, and periodic revivals of popular interest in ragtime occurred in the 1950s and the 1970s. The heyday of ragtime occurred before sound recording was widely available. Like European classical music, classical ragtime has primarily been a written tradition distributed though sheet music. But sheet music sales ultimately depended on
3403-434: The early 1940s, many jazz bands began to include ragtime in their repertoire, and as early as 1936 78 rpm records of Joplin's compositions were produced. Old numbers written for piano were rescored for jazz instruments by jazz musicians, which gave the old style a new sound. The most famous recording of this period is Pee Wee Hunt 's version of Euday L. Bowman 's " Twelfth Street Rag ." A more significant revival occurred in
Maple Leaf Rag - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-462: The early ragtime pianists could not read or notate music, but instead played by ear and improvised . The instrument of choice by ragtime musicians was usually a banjo or a piano. It was performed in brothels, bars, saloons, and informal gatherings at house parties or juke joints . The first ragtime composition to be published was " La Pas Ma La " in 1895. It was written by minstrel comedian Ernest Hogan . Kentucky native Ben Harney composed
3569-457: The effect "weird and intoxicating." He also used the term "swing" in describing how to play ragtime music: "Play slowly until you catch the swing...". The name swing later came to be applied to an early style of jazz that developed from ragtime. Converting a non-ragtime piece of music into ragtime by changing the time values of melody notes is known as "ragging" the piece. Original ragtime pieces usually contain several distinct themes, four being
3652-478: The eight original shires of Virginia . The name comes from the native word Accawmacke, which meant "on the other side". In 1642 the name was changed to Northampton by the colonists. Northampton was divided into two counties in 1663. The northern adopted the original name, while the south remained Northampton. In 1670, the Virginia Colony 's Royal Governor William Berkeley abolished Accomac County, but
3735-498: The fingers, tremors and an inability to speak clearly, symptoms of syphilis , the disease that took his life in 1917. The recording of "Maple Leaf Rag", on the Aeolian Uni-Record label from June 1916 was described by biographer Blesh as "shocking ... disorganized and completely distressing to hear". Berlin notes that the "Maple Leaf Rag" roll was "painfully bad" and likely to be the truest record of Joplin's playing at
3818-424: The first musician to sell 1 million copies of a piece of instrumental music. Joplin's first biographer Rudi Blesh wrote that during its first six months the piece sold 75,000 copies, and became "the first great instrumental sheet music hit in America". However, research by Joplin's later biographer Edward A. Berlin demonstrated that this was not the case; the initial print-run of 400 took one year to sell, and under
3901-527: The first ragtime era, and its three most important composers, Joplin, Scott, and Lamb. The second major factor was the rise to prominence of Max Morath . Morath created two television series for National Educational Television (now PBS) in 1960 and 1962: The Ragtime Era , and The Turn of the Century . Morath turned the latter into a one-man-show in 1969, and toured the US with it for five years. Morath subsequently created different one-man-shows which also toured
3984-461: The first strains of Joplin's "The Cascades," "The Sycamore," "Leola," and "Sugar Cane" are modeled on the structure Joplin created for the first strain of "Maple Leaf Rag." The composition starts in the key of A-flat major and changes to D-flat major during the first part of the trio, then modulates back to A-flat major . In 1903, Stark issued a "Maple Leaf Rag Song", an arrangement of Joplin's music with words by Sydney Brown. Brown's lyrics tell
4067-420: The form of songs accompanied by skilled guitar work. Numerous records emanated from several labels, performed by Blind Blake , Blind Boy Fuller , Blind Lemon Jefferson , and others. Occasionally, ragtime was scored for ensembles (particularly dance bands and brass bands ) similar to those of James Reese Europe or as songs like those written by Irving Berlin . Joplin had long-standing ambitions of synthesizing
4150-694: The genre has been adapted for a variety of instruments and styles. Ragtime music originated within African American communities in the late 19th century and became a distinctly American form of popular music. It is closely related to marches . Ragtime pieces usually contain several distinct themes, often arranged in patterns of repeats and reprises. Scott Joplin, known as the "King of Ragtime", gained fame through compositions like " Maple Leaf Rag " and " The Entertainer ". Ragtime influenced early jazz , Harlem stride piano , Piedmont blues , and European classical composers such as Erik Satie , Claude Debussy , and Igor Stravinsky . Despite being overshadowed by jazz in
4233-455: The genre; its structure was the basis for many other rags, including "Sensation" by Joseph Lamb . It is more carefully constructed than almost all the previous rags, and the syncopations , especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were novel at the time. Generally, the "Maple Leaf Rag" is considered difficult to play; a pianist must have very good coordination in the left hand to perform it successfully, particularly for
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#17327799716974316-537: The hammers and the instrument deliberately somewhat out of tune, supposedly to simulate the sound of a piano in an old honky tonk . Four events brought forward a different kind of ragtime revival in the 1970s. First, pianist Joshua Rifkin released a compilation of Scott Joplin's work, Scott Joplin: Piano Rags , on Nonesuch Records , which was nominated in 1971 for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance – Instrumental Soloist or Soloists (without orchestra) category. This recording reintroduced Joplin's music to
4399-429: The jigs and march music played by African American bands, referred to as "jig piano" or "piano thumping". By the start of the 20th century, it became widely popular throughout North America and was listened and danced to, performed, and written by people of many different subcultures. A distinctly American musical style, ragtime may be considered a synthesis of African syncopation and European classical music, especially
4482-413: The like. Ragtime was also distributed via piano rolls for mechanical player pianos . While the traditional rag was fading in popularity, a genre called novelty piano (or novelty ragtime) emerged that took advantage of new advances in piano roll technology and the phonograph record to permit a more complex, pyrotechnic, performance-oriented style of rag to be heard. Chief among the novelty rag composers
4565-419: The manuscript of the work in or around 1898. Prior to its publication, Joplin anticipated that the piece would be a success—he told Arthur Marshall that "The Maple Leaf will make me the king of ragtime composers". The exact circumstances which led to publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" are unknown, and there are versions of the event which contradict each other. After approaching several publishers, Joplin signed
4648-491: The marches made popular by John Philip Sousa. Some early piano rags were classified as "jig", "rag", and "coon songs". These labels were sometimes used interchangeably in the mid-1890s, 1900s, and 1910s. Ragtime was also preceded by its close relative the cakewalk . In 1895, black entertainer Ernest Hogan released the earliest ragtime composition, called " La Pas Ma La ". The following year he released another composition called "All Coons Look Alike to Me", which eventually sold
4731-442: The most common number. These themes were typically 16 bars, each theme divided into periods of four four-bar phrases and arranged in patterns of repeats and reprises. Typical patterns were AABBACCC′, AABBCCDD and AABBCCA, with the first two strains in the tonic key and the following strains in the subdominant. Sometimes rags would include introductions of four bars or bridges, between themes, of anywhere between four and 24 bars. In
4814-418: The music played by such artists of the style as Reverend Gary Davis , Blind Boy Fuller , Elizabeth Cotten , and Etta Baker could be referred to as "ragtime guitar." Although most ragtime was composed for piano, transcriptions for other instruments and ensembles are common, notably including Gunther Schuller 's arrangements of Joplin's rags. Ragtime guitar continued to be popular into the 1930s, usually in
4897-649: The other two licensed to unincorporated Craddockville on a tower near Route 178 . Each translator tower has four signals to relay the signals of Hampton Roads's major network affiliates to the county, including WAVY , WHRO , WTKR , and WVEC . Meanwhile, Fox programming via WVBT is provided by WPMC-CA (Channel 36) from the Mappsville tower, a station owned by Nexstar Media Group , the parent company of WAVY/WVBT. Additionally, Salisbury, Maryland CBS / Fox affiliate WBOC-TV has long claimed Accomack County as part of its coverage area. In Sydney Brown's lyrics for
4980-431: The past were made available on records, and new rags were composed, published, and recorded. In the 1960s, two major factors brought about a greater public recognition of ragtime. The first was the publication of the book, They All Played Ragtime , in 1960, by Harriet Janis and Rudi Blesh. Some historians refer to this book as "The Ragtime Bible". Regardless, it was the first comprehensive and serious attempt to document
5063-497: The population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Black or African American (28%), English American (15%), German (9%), Irish (9%) and Mexican (4%) . There were 15,299 households, out of which 28.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.20% were married couples living together, 14.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 27.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.50% had someone living alone who
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#17327799716975146-579: The public in the manner the composer had intended, not as a nostalgic stereotype but as serious, respectable music. Second, the New York Public Library released a two-volume set of The Collected Works of Scott Joplin which renewed interest in Joplin among musicians and prompted new stagings of Joplin's opera Treemonisha . Next came the release and Grammy Award for The New England Ragtime Ensemble 's recording of The Red Back Book, Joplin tunes edited by Gunther Schuller . Finally, with
5229-446: The publication of the " Maple Leaf Rag " (1899) and a string of ragtime hits such as " The Entertainer " (1902), although he was later forgotten by all but a small, dedicated community of ragtime aficionados until the major ragtime revival in the early 1970s. For at least 12 years after its publication, "Maple Leaf Rag" heavily influenced subsequent ragtime composers with its melody lines, chord progressions or metric patterns . In
5312-572: The release of the film The Sting in 1973, which had a Marvin Hamlisch soundtrack of Joplin rags, ragtime was brought to a wide audience. Hamlisch's rendering of Joplin's 1902 rag "The Entertainer" won an Academy Award, and was an American Top 40 hit in 1974, reaching No. 3 on May 18. Ragtime news and reviews publications during this period included The Ragtime Review (1962–1966), The Rag Times (bimonthly/sporadic, fl. 1962–2003), and The Mississippi Rag (monthly, 1973–2009). In 1980, an adaption of E. L. Doctorow 's historical novel Ragtime
5395-417: The skill of amateur pianists, which limited classical ragtime's complexity and proliferation. A folk ragtime tradition also existed before and during the period of classical ragtime (a designation largely created by Scott Joplin's publisher John Stillwell Stark ), manifesting itself mostly through string bands, banjo and mandolin clubs (which experienced a burst of popularity during the early 20th century) and
5478-598: The song "You've Been a Good Old Wagon But You Done Broke Down" the following year in 1896. The composition was a hit and helped popularize the genre to the mainstream. Another early ragtime pioneer was comedian and songwriter Irving Jones . Ragtime was also a modification of the march style popularized by John Philip Sousa . Jazz critic Rudi Blesh thought its polyrhythm may be coming from African music, although no historian or musicologist has made any connection with any music from Africa. Ragtime composer Scott Joplin ( ca. 1868–1917) from Texas, became famous through
5561-514: The song has characteristics in common with rap, such as the lyrical themes, the lyrics being written in the African American Vernacular English of the time, and the fact that the lyrics are sung over the least melodic strain of the music. There have been many claims about the sales of the "Maple Leaf Rag", for example that 1 million copies of the sheet music were sold in the composer's lifetime, making Scott Joplin
5644-493: The story of a poor man from Accomack County, Virginia , who stumbles into a ballroom where, in spite of his anxiety over the state of his appearance, he manages to wow the crowd with the Maple Leaf Rag. While the men are jealous of his dancing abilities and draw their razors, the women love him, and the "finest belle" sends for a carriage and the two of them ride away. Modern ragtime composer Ron O'Dell has commented that
5727-502: The style with two preludes for piano: Minstrels , (1910) and General Lavine-excentric (from his 1913 Préludes ), which was inspired by a Médrano circus clown. Erik Satie , Arthur Honegger , Darius Milhaud , and the other members of Les Six in Paris never made any secret of their sympathy for ragtime, which is sometimes evident in their works. Consider, in particular, the ballet of Satie, Parade (Ragtime du Paquebot), (1917) and La Mort de Monsieur Mouche , an overture for piano for
5810-443: The success of Maple Leaf Rag, with none of his other famous rags (such as " The Entertainer ") garnering as much popularity as the Maple Leaf Rag did. The royalties earned by the sheet music sales did provide Joplin with a steady income for the rest of his life, however. Soon after the publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag", the earliest recordings of the rag took place; band leader Wilbur Sweatman recorded it onto phonograph cylinder
5893-480: The terms of Joplin's contract with a one-cent royalty would have given Joplin an income of $ 4, or approximately $ 150 in 2023. Later sales were steady and would have given Joplin an income which would have covered his expenses; in 1909 estimated sales would have given him an income of $ 600 annually (approximately $ 20,000 in 2023). In addition to sales of sheet music, it was also popular in orchestrations for dance bands and brass bands for years. Joplin failed to repeat
5976-631: The time. The roll, however, does not reflect his abilities earlier in life. The piece was a selection in the White Star Line songbook in the early 1900s, and could have possibly been played aboard the RMS Titanic during its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912 . The tune continued to be in the repertoire of jazz bands decades later, with artists such as the New Orleans Rhythm Kings in the 1920s, and Sidney Bechet in
6059-597: The title Stand-Walk Marche ; it was later subtitled Intermezzo Americain when Rouarts-Lerolle reprinted it in 1919. Piccadilly , another march, was initially titled The Transatlantique ; it presented a stereotypical wealthy American heir sailing on an ocean liner on the New York–Europe route, going to trade his fortune for an aristocratic title in Europe. There is a similar influence in Milhaud's ballets Le boeuf sur le toite and Creation du Monde , which he wrote after
6142-473: The trio, which involves leaps of two octaves. When it was published, it was considered significantly more difficult than the average Tin Pan Alley and early ragtime sheet music common at the time. "Gladiolus Rag," a later composition by Joplin, is a developed variant of the "Maple Leaf Rag" showcasing Joplin's increasing musical sophistication, and is usually played at a somewhat slower tempo. In addition,
6225-684: The two poorest counties in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Accomack County is represented by Republican William “Bill” DeSteph, Jr in the Virginia Senate, Republican Robert Bloxom in the Virginia House of Delegates, and Republican Jen Kiggans in the U.S. House of Representatives. Accomack County is home to large chicken processing facilities owned by Perdue Farms and Tyson Foods . STAR Transit provides public transit services for both Accomack and Northampton counties and
6308-443: The worlds of ragtime and opera , to which end the opera Treemonisha was written. However, its first performance, poorly staged with Joplin accompanying on the piano, was "disastrous" and was never performed again in Joplin's lifetime. The score was lost for decades, then rediscovered in 1970, and a fully orchestrated and staged performance took place in 1972. An earlier opera by Joplin, A Guest of Honor , has been lost. The rag
6391-482: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.96. In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.30% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 26.20% from 25 to 44, 24.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 94.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males. Accomack and adjacent Northampton County are
6474-475: Was a Top 5 hit in 1975. Ragtime – with Joplin's work at the forefront – has been cited as an American equivalent of the minuets of Mozart , the mazurkas of Chopin , or the waltzes of Brahms . Ragtime also influenced classical composers including Erik Satie , Claude Debussy , and Igor Stravinsky . Ragtime originated in African American music in the late 19th century and descended from
6557-426: Was a modification of the march made popular by John Philip Sousa , with additional polyrhythms coming from African music. It was usually written in 4 or 4 time with a predominant left-hand pattern of bass notes on strong beats (beats 1 and 3) and chords on weak beats (beat 2 and 4) accompanying a syncopated melody in the right hand. According to some sources the name "ragtime" may come from
6640-504: Was a proper funeral song. She later admitted regretting that decision her whole life. Ragtime Ragtime , also spelled rag-time or rag time , is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm . Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott Joplin , James Scott , and Joseph Lamb . Ragtime pieces (often called "rags") are typically composed for and performed on piano , though
6723-498: Was associated with a few musical fads of the period such as the foxtrot . Many of the terms associated with ragtime have inexact definitions and are defined differently by different experts; the definitions are muddled further by the fact that publishers often labelled pieces for the fad of the moment rather than the true style of the composition. There is even disagreement about the term "ragtime" itself; experts such as David Jasen and Trebor Tichenor choose to exclude ragtime songs from
6806-581: Was probably at the Paris Exposition in 1900, one of the stages of the European tour of John Philip Sousa. The first notable classical composer to take a serious interest in ragtime was Antonín Dvořák . French composer Claude Debussy emulated ragtime in three pieces for piano. The best-known remains the Golliwog's Cake Walk (from the 1908 Piano Suite Children's Corner ). He later returned to
6889-543: Was released on screen. Randy Newman composed its music score, which was all original. In 1998, a stage version of Ragtime was produced on Broadway. With music by Stephen Flaherty and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, the show featured several rags as well as songs in other musical styles. Accomack County, Virginia Accomack County is a United States county located in the eastern edge of the Commonwealth of Virginia . Together, Accomack and Northampton counties make up
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