Sources:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Eugenia_(Joplin%2C_Scott),
https://www.loc.gov/resource/ihas.200033253.0/?sp=3(Inf
ormation from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_S
cott_Joplin)
Scott Joplin was born in Arkansas in around 1867, just
outside Texarkana, and was a street perfor-mer before
settling in Sedalia, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and
finally New York City where hedied in 1917. He was an
American composer and pianist, who achieved fame for
his ragtime com-posit...(+)
Sources:
https://imslp.org/wiki/Eugenia_(Joplin%2C_Scott),
https://www.loc.gov/resource/ihas.200033253.0/?sp=3(Inf
ormation from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_compositions_by_S
cott_Joplin)
Scott Joplin was born in Arkansas in around 1867, just
outside Texarkana, and was a street perfor-mer before
settling in Sedalia, Missouri, St. Louis, Missouri, and
finally New York City where hedied in 1917. He was an
American composer and pianist, who achieved fame for
his ragtime com-positions, and was dubbed "The King of
Ragtime." During his career, Joplin wrote over 40
originalragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two
operas. One of his first pieces, the "Maple Leaf
Rag"(1899), has been recognized as the archetypal rag
and influenced subsequent rag composers forthanks to
its rhythmic patterns, melody lines, and harmony.
His finances were precarious throughout his career,
despite a steady income from the "Maple LeafRag."
Joplin had the majority of his works published by John
Stark of Sedalia, Missouri, althoughhe did use other
lesser-known companies including his own "Scott Joplin
Music Publishing Company." His first opera, A Guest of
Honor, was lost after an unsuccessful tour in 1903.
After the 1953 death of his widow, Lottie, a number of
manuscripts of unpublished work were lost and no
copiesof them are known to exist.
When Joplin was learning the piano, serious musical
circles condemned ragtime because of itsassociation
with the vulgar and insane songs of Tin Pan Alley. As a
composer, Joplin refined rag-time, developing it from
the dance music played by pianists in brothels in
cities like St. Louis. This new art form, the classic
rag, combined Afro-American folk music's syncopation
and nineteenth-century European romanticism, with its
harmonic schemes and its march-like tempos, in
particularthe works of John Philip Sousa. With this as
a foundation, Joplin intended his compositions to
beplayed exactly as he wrote them – without
improvisation. Joplin wrote his rags as "classical"
musicto raise ragtime above its "cheap bordello"
origins and produced work which opera historian Elise
Kirk described as "...more tuneful, contrapuntal,
infectious, and harmonically colorful than anyothers of
his era."
There are many inconsistencies between the titles of
compositions, their subtitles, and their respective
cover titles, which was seen by the editor of the
collected works as reflecting "an editorialcasualness"
on the part of the publishers, and indicating a genre
in which many dance-steps couldbe performed
interchangeably. Many of the works cannot be dated
with certainty and the pieceswere not always sent to
the Copyright Office for copyright registration. In
many cases the publication date is the only indication
of when a piece was composed.
I worked out this ragtime from the sources mentioned
above, and I made it my own arrangementand sound mix
("Raumklang +") with help from my favorite music
program called MuseScore ver.3.6.2. MuseScore contains
the GeneralMIDI-compatible software synthesizer
"FluidSynth" with the standard GM soundfont
MuseScore_General_HQ.sf3 as well as the drum
specialized synthe-sizer "Zerberus"
(MS-Drumline-PlugIn) as an integral part.
MuseScore was programmed by Werner Schweer, Nicolas
Froment and Thomas Bonte (Germany/Belgium), is
available as Open Source Software (GNU General Public
License) without restrictions and runs under Windows,
MacOS, Linux. It is available from www.musescore.org
incl. soundfont and manual download free of charge for
everyone.
I can unreservedly recommend this really powerful
software with it’s excellent graphical user
interface. This OpenSource program puts even commercial
software such as "Finale" "easily into the pocket" (own
test!).
What I can unfortunately no more recommend without
reservation is registering as a user on musescore.com,
too (but that's another story).
This arrangement and especially the sound of an "old"
piano is something I'm a little proud of, to behonest.
I call the concept for my Sound Remix "Raumklang +",
and I didn't invent it’s principles by myself, but
adapted them for the MuseScore-Software. Please listen
to the attached .mp3 file through a good pair of
headphones. I don't think you can distinguish the sound
of the well accentu-ated playback of the GM synthesizer
from a "real" piano anymore - except by the constancy
in playback tempo (which a human being could not keep
like that). But even that is programmable.
Will you let me know how you like my sound mix and what
you think of it?
CU, have fun and: Set the Music free (from that prison
on the old library shelves!)
SHEET MUSIC