Scott Joplin: New York Sessions (1907-1914)

Throughout the entire composer's life, there is most certainly something special to be said about his final years spent in New York City. Certainly a drastic change of atmosphere from the usual scenery of Sedalia & St. Louis, it is most commonly said for the bustling city of rich opportunity to be inspiration towards formulating his music like never before-- putting the sub-genre "Classical Ragtime" to it's true test. Yet with greater opportunity comes greater competition between those who seek the same prize. (Or in many cases, those who seek the profits & fame that comes with it!)

With Tin Pan Alley by now notorious for it's cut-throat competition, it was clear to see that most firms were only interested in simplistic & snappy rags to instantly capture public attention. This particular sense of style would further put in place the commercialization of Ragtime as a fast-paced (and often "house party") genre, the very ideas Joplin despised for sloppily masquerading what he envisioned to be music of "high class." Despite a remarkably matured output between 1907-1909 consisting some of his most thoroughly written works, Joplin's dreams & even his originally celebrated name would go undermined by the competitive world of the big city. Even by that of perhaps his most influential supporter himself, John Stark. Following a failed effort to save his New York office through the elimination of all future royalties (including those for Joplin), the two had split ties indefinitely, ending a very fruitful relationship.

Having focused the majority of his attention toward the creation & production of 'Treemonisha' by 1910, Joplin's fame and nearly all that came with it would slowly dissolve into distant memories as his musical output almost came to a complete halt. Finding himself left broken a year later by his opera's failure to convince any potential investors, Joplin's battle with what had now been the concerning effects of syphilis would prove to be the end of his career & livelihood with all hope seeming lost. Hospitalized and later passing away at Manhattan State Hospital 6 years later, the significance of Joplin's time in New York & the masterworks that further cemented Ragtime's legitimacy would go greatly unnoticed for quite some time until the 1970s revival. It would be around this same period where Joplin's grave would become marked for the first time with an official headstone, quite a number of decades later.

Through this particular video, I aim to not only showcase the type of environment that may have inspired Joplin to adapt his new style of writing by this time (through old-age footage of New York throughout the early 1900s), but to also bring more life to his works outside of the stereotypical "saloon/brothel" settings often associated with Ragtime.
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Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Search-Light Rag (1907)
0:04:20 - Gladiolus Rag (1907)
0:08:19 - Rose Leaf Rag (1907)
0:12:44 - Heliotrope Bouquet (1907)
0:16:27 - Fig Leaf Rag (1908)
0:20:57 - Sugar Cane (1908)
0:24:27 - Pine Apple Rag (1908)
0:28:33 - Wall Street Rag (1909)
0:32:33 - Solace: A Mexican Serenade (1909)
0:39:11 - Pleasant Moments (1909)
0:42:51 - Country Club (1909)
0:46:49 - Euphonic Sounds (1909)
0:51:02 - Paragon Rag (1909)
0:55:00 - Stoptime Rag (1910)
0:57:52 - Scott Joplin's New Rag (1912)
1:02:09 - The Silver Swan (1914)
1:05:56 - Magnetic Rag (1914)
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Music composed by Scott Joplin & performed by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra, Gazza's Razztime Orchestra, New England Conservatory Ragtime Ensemble, and the United States Marine Band.

This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of Scott Joplin and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes.