Scott Joplin

Author Code: ASJX

Joplin began playing piano from an early age, receiving lessons at home from Julius Weiss, a German music teacher who provided a classical basis on which Joplin could build. He then studied composition, music theory and harmony at George R. Smith College in Missouri. He traveled around the Midwest with various musical groups and in 1895, published his first song, Please Say You Will. Joplin played piano at the Maple Leaf and Black 400 clubs in Sedalia, Missouri and by 1898 had sold six piano pieces. In 1899, he wrote Maple Leaf Rag, one of his most famous pieces and one which would provide him with a steady income. Joplin became the star of ragtime music and in 1900 moved to St. Louis where he continued to produce hits such as The Entertainer and Ragtime Dance. In 1911, he moved to New York City and produced the operatic work Treemonisha, the first grand opera written by an African American. Joplin had contracted syphilus, probably around the turn of the century, and his health and mental state deteriorated until his death in 1917. His music again made popular during the 1970's with its inclusion in the film The Sting and his opera was awarded the Pulitzer Prize posthumously in 1976. His works include Elite Syncopations (1902), Palm Leaf Rag (1903), The Sycamore (1904), Wall Street Rag (1909), Pleasant Moments (1909), Stoptime Rag (1910) and Magnetic Rag (1914).