Lemonade - for ragtime piano (Americana)

• Jan 5, 2019 - 14:32

Lemonade - for ragtime piano (Americana)

https://musescore.com/user/29586932/scores/5379259
An early effort for an undergraduate composers concert which I withdrew back in the days of Joplin resurgence. I deviated from form a bit to accommodate my own material, but there are plenty of Joplin gestures and a final quote.

(thanks to Aleksandr Borodin for reminding me that the fermata goes above the 8va)


Comments

I like it. Very true to form ragtime. I just started studying Joplin's (Scott, not Janis) pieces (not a music student, just a hobbyist) so seeing someone's efforts to imitate ragtime makes me smile.

I noticed the copyright 1980 and you mentioning a "Joplin resurgence;" was there really a period of popular ragtime revival in the early 80s? I hadn't heard of such a thing.

In reply to by AlephNolan

Thanks for your interest. In 1980 in grad school I wrote it. There was a brief resurgence in the 50's I've read, but in 1973 the movie The Sting brought about a Joplin resurgence as well as the performances on Nonesuch records by pianist Joshua Rifkin, who was a Baroque specialist of some sort. It is said his interpretations are definitive. They're the ones I prefer.
I do not know too much ragtime and only visit the style rarely. I only know Joplin, not the other composers. My few rags are a tribute by I do not follow the format exactly. Many in the Ragtime Composers group do follow the format. Many are good.

https://musescore.com/groups/the-ragtime-composer

It's run by a young Italian there, Luca Allegranza. He's got the style nailed down. You may like it there. :-)

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