David Thomas Roberts plays "Leola" by Scott Joplin

For more information about David Thomas Roberts, visit his website at:
http://www.davidthomasroberts.com/

Leola -- Two Step (1905). Leola is the earliest of three pieces drawing from formal aspects of Maple Leaf Rag (the others are Gladiolus Rag and Sugar Cane). More significantly, it directly forecasts Gladiolus and therefore stands as a crucial component of Joplin's extraordinary middle period.
The first strain is the most telling of Leola's link to both Gladiolus and Maple Leaf, while the second section stands alone in its successive melodic thirds reminiscent of Mediterranean and Latin American styles and may be taken as evidence of the influence of such music upon classic ragtime. The trio and finale represent the composer at his lyrical and bittersweet best. As in Maple Leaf, he returns to the original tonic (A flat) for the final strain, accentuating the sense of resolve and grand purpose, which, in the language of Scott Joplin, is almost invariably mingled with melancholy.