Scott Joplin was an American composer and pianist. He has been called the “King of Ragtime”, a style of music popular in the early 1900’s. Even though he was well known during his life, he became more famous after his death. His songs have been recorded hundreds of times and arranged for many different instruments.
The exact date and place where Scott Joplin was born is unknown but he was born between 1867 and 1868 on the border of Texas and Arkansas. His parents were Giles Joplin and Florence Given.The Joplin family liked music and played instruments. His mom sang and played the banjo. His dad played the violin. At a young age Scott Joplin played the guitar and started learning piano with local piano teachers. He left home at age 14 because of an argument with his parents.They wanted him to work in a trade but he wanted a career in music.
After Scott Joplin left home, he traveled the American south playing music and even played at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. During this time he experienced a lot of different musical styles. In the late 1890’s, he moved to Missouri and studied music to become a concert pianist and a classical composer.
He started publishing music in 1895. The first two songs he published were waltzes. Then he moved on to rags including the hit “Maple Leaf Rag”. He earned a royalty of one cent for each copy of sheet music sold. It eventually became the biggest ragtime song of all time and sold a million copies.
Joplin loved ragtime piano composing. Ragtime has a syncopated or ragged rhythm where the melodic accents occur between metrical beats. It is a combination of classical European harmonies with African rhythms and was the first music native to America. Ragtime has a special form set in 2/4 time starting with a four bar introduction and a series of 16 bar themes. The form can be written as INTRO AA BB A CC DD.
During his career Joplin published 44 rags, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. He moved to New York City to try to perform his second opera Treemonisha. Sadly he failed and lost a lot of money on the opera. He was now poor, got dementia, and lost control of his hands. He was put into a mental institution and he died a few months later on April 1st, 1917 at the age of 48. He was buried in an unmarked grave and with two other people.
Scott Joplin was rediscovered in the 1970’s when Joshua Rifkin released an album of his music. Joplin’s song “The Entertainer” was featured in The Sting starring Robert Redford. In 1975 Treemonisha was played in full on Broadway. The following year Joplin received a Pulitzer Prize. At his grave they now have a proper tombstone and every year people celebrate with a concert.
Even though the end of his life was tragic, Scott Joplin helped revolutionize American music and culture. His music would influence many composers and bring joy to future generations.