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Phillip Dyson

The King of Ragtime - Scott Joplin: Complete Piano Works (4CD)

Dubbed the ‘King of Ragtime’, Scott Joplin (c. 1868-1917) was one of the most important and influential composers at the turn of the 20th century. He was born in Texarkana, Texas and grew up in a musical family. At age seven, he discovered a piano in a neighbour’s house and began experimenting with it by ear. His father soon bought a second-hand piano, and by age eleven Joplin’s gifts were the talk of the community.

In 1897, Joplin had his breakthrough, when he completed his Maple Leaf Rag. He was discovered by the publisher John Stark in the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri. Stark purchased Maple Leaf Rag for 50 dollars, offering Joplin a continuing royalty and the rest was history.

"The Maple Leaf Rag" and "The Entertainer" are amongst his best-known works, the latter of which has become very much Joplin’s “theme tune”. Joplin’s music featured prominently in the Academy Award-winning 1973 film The Sting, including "The Entertainer" and "Solace".

"The Entertainer" became a huge hit and the ragtime craze launched in 1893 came full circle.

Phillip Dyson, recognised as one of Britain’s most sought after and innovative concert pianists and broadcasts regularly on the BBC and Classic FM, has recorded Joplin’s Complete Piano Works for Decca, reaffirming Joplin’s reputation as a serious and influential American composer.

CD1
ORIGINAL WORKS
Great Crush Collision March (1896)
Combination March (1896)
Harmony Club Waltz (1896)
Original Rags (1899)
Maple Leaf Rag (1899)
Peacherine Rag (1901)
Augustan Club Waltz (1901)
The Easy Winners (1901)
Cleopha (1902)
A Breeze from Alabama (1902)
Elite Syncopations (1902)
The Entertainer (1902)
March Majestic (1902)
The Strenuous Life 1902)

CD2
ORIGINAL WORKS
Weeping Willow (1903)
Palm Leaf Rag (1903)
The Favorite (1904)
The Sycamore (1904)
The Cascades (1904)
The Chrysanthemum (1904)
Bethena (1905)
The Rosebud March (1905)
Leola (1905)
Binks’ Waltz (1905)
Eugenia (1905)
Antoinette (1906)
The Ragtime Dance (1906)
Gladiolus Rag (1907)
Nonpareil (None to Equal) (1907)

Sugar Cane (1908)

CD3
ORIGINAL WORKS
Pine Apple Rag (1908)
Wall Street Rag (1909)
Solace (1909)
Pleasant Moments (1909)
Country Club (1909)
Euphonic Sounds (1909)
Paragon Rag (1909)
Stoptime Rag (1910)
Scott Joplin’s New Rag (1912)
Magnetic Rag (1914)

Reflection Rag (1917)

CD4
COLLABORATIVE WORKS
Swipesy (1900) (with Arthur Marshall)
Sunflower Slow Drag (1901) (with Scott Hayden)
Something Doing (1903) (with Scott Hayden)
Lily Queen (1907) (with Arthur Marshall)
Heliotrope Bouquet (1907) (with Louis Chauvin)
Felicity Rag (1911) (with Scott Hayden)
Kismet Rag (1913) (with Scott Hayden)
MISCELLANEOUS WORKS
Sensation (1908) (Joseph F. Lamb, arr. Scott Joplin)

Silver Swan Rag (1971) (Attributed to Scott Joplin)

ADDENDA
Fig Leaf Rag (1908) (Scott Joplin)
Rose Leaf Rag (1907) (Scott Joplin)
Searchlight Rag (1907) (Scott Joplin)
TREEMONISHA – Opera in Three Acts (1911)
No. 13 Frolic of the Bears (Scott Joplin)
No. 19 Prelude to Act III (Scott Joplin)
No. 27 A Real Slow Drag (Finale to Act III) (Scott Joplin)