? King Of Ragtime Scott Joplin And His Era? Essay, Research Paper

The King of Ragtime is what they called him and that is what he was. Scott Joplin was to ragtime as what John Philip Sousa was to the March. The book I choose to read was titled & # 8220 ; King of Ragtime Scott Joplin and His Era & # 8221 ; , Edward A. Berlin was the writer of the book.

Scott Joplin & # 8217 ; s life seemed to be like most people & # 8217 ; s life at that clip in the South when his was turning. However, as he got older he began to interrupt off and go a immense portion of musical history. He was born on November 24, 1868, in the little metropolis of Texarkana that sat on the boundary line of Texas and Arkansas. Scott & # 8217 ; s male parent, Giles, was a railway labourer who was born into bondage and obtained his freedom five old ages before his boy was born. Firenze, his female parent was born a free black and worked as a washwoman when she was non busy raising her kids. Like many black people during the clip of the station civil war, the Joplins saw music as a tool and a wages. Joplin & # 8217 ; s household was really musically talented and they preformed at nuptialss and funerals. Scott began his musical calling by playing the guitar, and so took up the piano after playing his neighbour & # 8217 ; s piano. He was so good that a local German instrumentalist gave him free piano lessons. Soon was off on his ain and he was playing all over the Mid-West and South.

In 1893 Joplin played horn with a set at the World & # 8217 ; s Colombian Exposition in Chicago, where the state displayed its regional fluctuation of ragtime music. There at the expounding Joplin met pianist Otis Saunders. Otis Saunders encourage Joplin to play the piano and to compose down his ain original pieces. After touring around the state playing bars and dark nines Scott settled down in the town of Sedalia, Missouri, which would subsequently go known as the Cradle of Classic Ragtime. Here he attended music categories at the George R. Smith College for Negroes. In the town of Sedalis Joplin composed some of his greatest plant as a piano player.

With his short, difficult drive tunes and the syncopated anchor he began to compose. In 1899 Joplin issued his first piano shred & # 8220 ; Original Rags & # 8221 ; and & # 8220 ; Maple Leaf Rag & # 8221 ; . Shortly after the vocals were played in the cabarets, Joplin signed with a publishing house. Soon success and money came Scott Joplins manner, and he stopped playing in nines. With a fiscal shock absorber Scott went after another one of his loves, opera. Joplin composed

two operas in his life one was a floating-point operation and now lost “A invitee of Honor” . His 2nd opera “Treemonisha” did win, nevertheless it became a big success after he died. Scoot Joplin died on April 1, 1917, in New York City.

I found in my reading that in Scott Joplin & # 8217 ; s life there were many great narratives to be told. However, the narrative I find the most interesting occurred long after he had died. In 1974 the academy award winning movie & # 8220 ; The Sting & # 8221 ; had caused a metempsychosis of ragtime and other types of classical music. The movie brought back the music of Scott Joplin, the push was led by the piece titled & # 8220 ; The Entertainer & # 8221 ; . The piece was one of the most popular vocals of the mid-1970s, it soured to a top 10 coating on the dad charts. The resurgence of his music resulted in events that were unprecedented in American musical history. Never before had a vocal been so popular among the classical charts and dad charts. & # 8220 ; The Sting & # 8221 ; carried Joplin & # 8217 ; s music back into the record shops.

I feel that I have had a great personal apprehension of music my whole life. When I was a younger kid I took up piano at a immature age and played daily up until I was 16. I had lesson on the keyboard every bit good as categories in music theory. After that I played in the school set for several old ages. So, I feel that the book did non give me a new apprehension for music, but it did trip a new involvement. I have begun to pattern the piano more and more and take up a new instrument, the guitar. As far an grasp of music goes, I besides feel that I have gained that quality as a immature kid, and go on to transport with me in college. I enjoy all type of music. With an grasp for music I found the book to really gratifying and interesting.

I felt the book was good thought out and good written. It takes the reader through a measure by measure journey of Scott Joplin & # 8217 ; s life. The book does non merely concentrate on his personal life or music but alternatively incorporates them both into the book in a manner that is really easy to read and really apprehensible. I felt the book was interesting, and it kept my attending every page of the manner. I enjoyed the narrative of a black who emerged out of poorness in the station civil war epoch to go one of the greatest composer of all time. Yes, I would urge this book to anyone who is music lover and to person who enjoys ragtime music.

Bibliography

King of Ragtime Scott Joplin and His Era & # 8221 ; , Edward A. Berlin