The Art of Ragtime: Form and Meaning of an Original Black American Art

Ragtime, as a written and published musical form, communicates both black folk styles of playing and black conceptions of musical art. Whereas earlier forms of black music - work songs, plantation songs, spirituals and minstrel tunes - existed essentially in performance, with only a sporadic tradition of transcription and publication, ragtime was conceived and executed as a written piano form. It was possible, in the years of 1895-1915, to hear ragtime performed by itinerant pianists, on piano rolls, in adaptations by minstrel troupes and casual instrumental ensembles, and through the work of popular singers - but it was also possible to obtain full and accurate scores of classic ragtime. Ragtime effected a total musical revolution, the first great impact of black folk culture on America's dominant white middle-class. This first extensive analysis of ragtime as an important American musical form chronicles the music's development from its origins in the 1890s through its peak in 1915. The authors also discuss racial attitudes which temporarily minimized the influence of ragtime. The book includes numerous excerpts from ragtime compositions, several complete scores, illustrations from the original covers of ragtime sheet music, and a structural and thematic analysis of Joplin's folk opera "Treemonisha"