The undisputed king of ragtime is Scott Joplin, but what many people don't realize today is that Joplin didn't become the iconic and famous artist he is today until after his death.
What Is Ragtime?
Ragtime piano is a truly American genre of music, with a distinctive syncopated rhythm. First popular as dance music, ragtime initially captivated audiences in cities' red-light districts, which were full of saloons and brothels from 1897 to 1918.
Ragtime grew out of the popular march music which had been made famous by John Phillips Sousa, but added multiple different rhythms combined at the same time, as well as African influence. In 1899, the African American Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag" emerged on the scene and began to thrill crowds.
The King of Ragtime was born and raised in Texas, and he penned his famous piano compositions while playing and teaching piano throughout Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky and Texas. Joplin played in saloons and honkytonks across the Midwest, penning over 60 ragtime compositions. Joplin only lived to be 49, with the last few years of his life being spent in New York City, where he worked on the first opera written by an African American, Treemonisha.
Joplin's fame only lasted a short during his lifetime. His greatest fame came years after his death, when a renewed interest in ragtime burst forth in the 1950s and later. In 1971, Joshua Rifkin published a compilation of Joplin's work, which was soon nominated for a Grammy. The increasing popularity was further fueled by The Sting, a 1973 film that featured Joplin's work and the extraordinarily popular Hollywood star Robert Redford. When The Sting won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score, the public accolades were matched with critical recognition. Joplin's posthumous awards continued with the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Treemonisha.
By the mid-1970s, millions of Americans were soon familiar with Joplin's name, buying his work and making "The Entertainer" one of the most recognizable pieces of music in history. Ragtime is today considered by many as America's equivalent of classical music and in the same league as Mozart's minuets and Braham's waltzes.
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