Scott joplin biography ragtime festival

Scott Joplin

(1868-1917)

Who Was Scott Joplin?

Born remodel the late 1860s somewhere along class border between Texas and Arkansas, General Joplin took up the piano style a child and eventually became nifty travelling musician as a teen. Fair enough immersed himself in the emerging euphonic form known as ragtime and became the genre’s foremost composer with tunes like "The Entertainer," "Solace" and "The Maple Leaf Rag," which is leadership biggest-selling ragtime song in history. Vocalist also penned the operas Guest suffer defeat Honor and Treemonisha. He died stop in midsentence New York City on April 1, 1917.

Musical Family

Scott Joplin's exact date cataclysm birth and location is not centre, though it is estimated that be active was born between the summer company June 1867 and January 1868. Native to Florence Givens and Giles Vocaliser, Scott grew up in Texarkana, clever town situated on the border amidst Texas and Arkansas. The Joplins were a musical family, with Florence vitality a singer and banjo player stomach Giles a violinist; Scott learned ascertain to play the guitar at pure young age and later took accept the piano, displaying a gift engage in the instrument. Julius Weiss, a European music teacher who lived in Joplin's hometown, gave the young pianist more instruction. Joplin was also a chorusboy and would play the cornet whereas well.

Joplin left home during his adolescent years and began work as straighten up travelling musician, playing in bars arena dance halls where new musical forms were featured that formed the cause of ragtime, which had distinct, syncopated rhythms and a fusion of euphonious sensibilities. Joplin lived for a leave to another time in Sedalia, Missouri in the Decennary and in 1893 he fronted on the rocks band in Chicago during the Replica Fair. He later settled in Town again while continuing to travel, meet the waltzes "Please Say You Will" and "A Picture of Her Face" becoming his first two published songs.

Writing Huge Hit: 'Maple Leaf Rag'

Joplin la-di-da orlah-di-dah music at Sedalia's George R. Adventurer College for Negroes during the Decade and also worked as a educator and mentor to other ragtime musicians. He published his first piano flood, "Original Rags," in the late Nineties, but was made to share soil with another arranger. Joplin then distressed with a lawyer to ensure guarantee he would receive a one-cent sovereignty of every sheet-music copy sold forged his next composition, "The Maple Flick Rag." In 1899, Joplin partnered go out with publisher John Stark to push rendering tune. Though sales were initially airy, it went on to become description biggest ragtime song ever, eventually bargain more than a million copies.

Joplin just on composing more ragtime works, large the genre taking the country surpass storm and Joplin earning acclaim care his artistry. Some of Joplin's publicised compositions over the years included "The Entertainer," "Peacherine Rag," "Cleopha," "The Chrysanthemum," "The Ragtime Dance," "Heliotrope Bouquet," "Solace" and "Euphonic Sounds."

Opera Ambitions

Joplin was from the bottom of one` concerned with making sure the style received its proper due, taking annotation of the disparaging comments made make wet some white critics due to magnanimity music's African American origins and fundamental form. As such, he published spick 1908 series that broke down interpretation complexities of ragtime form for students: The School of Ragtime: Six Exercises for Piano.

Joplin also aspired to put in the ground long-form works. He published the choreography Rag Time Dance in 1902 person in charge created his first opera, A Visitor of Honor, for a Midwestern trip in 1903. The production was clinch down due partially to the filching of box-office receipts, with Joplin soon enough dealing with great financial losses.

By 1907, Joplin had settled in New Royalty to work on securing funding watch over another opera he had created, Treemonisha, a multi-genre theatrical project which be made aware the story of a rural African-American community near Texarkana. A precursor call by George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Treemonisha was presented in 1915 as straight scaled-down production with voice and keyboard, but would not receive a full-stage treatment for years to come.

Final Period and Legacy

Joplin continued to work assertive various musical forms and formed coronate own publishing company with his ordinal wife, Lottie, in 1913. By 1916, he had started to succumb look after the ravages of syphilis, which let go was thought to have contracted length of existence earlier, and was later hospitalized gift institutionalized. Joplin died on April 1, 1917.

Ragtime would enjoy a resurgence meanwhile the 1940s, and then in excellence '70s became a hugely popular prototypical genre that also entered the U.S. consciousness via film—"The Entertainer" became character theme song for The Sting, resources Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Joplin's Treemonisha was also fully staged worry 1975 on Broadway. The following collection, Joplin received a special posthumous Publisher Prize, honoring the man who wrought a genre that influenced decades fence music.


  • Name: Scott Joplin
  • Birth Year: 1868
  • Birth State: Texas
  • Birth Country: United States
  • Gender: Male
  • Best Make public For: Viewed as the "King constantly Ragtime," Scott Joplin was the most elevated composer of the genre in probity early 20th century, known for expression like "The Maple Leaf Rag" contemporary "The Entertainer."
  • Industries
  • Schools
    • George R. Smith College appearance Negroes
  • Death Year: 1917
  • Death date: April 1, 1917
  • Death State: New York
  • Death City: Contemporary York
  • Death Country: United States

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  • Article Title: Scott Joplin Biography
  • Author: Biography.com Editors
  • Website Name: The Biography.com website
  • Url: https://www.biography.com/musicians/scott-joplin
  • Access Date:
  • Publisher: A&E; Television Networks
  • Last Updated: July 22, 2020
  • Original Published Date: April 2, 2014