Rags

[ted]

I have been busy recording a number of simple pieces in different ways to find the best mic position and setting for my new Zoom H2.

Heliotrope Bouquet (Joplin/Chauvin)

The Blue Boncus Drag (Jones, 1987)

[furtwaengler]

Hi Ted,

I enjoyed these. There is a right way to play a rag, and this is a good demonstration. Performance practices change, but I prefer these leisurely tempos...it's what you would have heard in Joplin's day. (Am I basing this on a whim or did I actually learn this?)

Ah well...laid back, humid summer. You've got the right spirit.

And, I really did enjoyed these!

[ted]

I am pleased you like them. Fashions come and go but I think, in general, most rags admit a fairly wide range of tempo. It is a fact that perception of syncopation changes very markedly with tempo, with the rhythmic effect disappearing altogether at very high speeds, but in the end it is a personal choice whether one likes it or not. My own feeling is that, again in general, while most of Joplin sounds well at a slower pace, most of the rags of James Scott lose their bounce and athleticism if played too slowly. For instance, I think On the Pike, which I recorded just now after reading your post, would lack something if taken too calmly.

[m19834]

Hi Ted,

I have listened to your first two just now, and though I feel as if I never actually have anything truly "intelligent" to say about people's recordings --whether I really know about a musical style or not-- I especially don't know how to articulate my thoughts and feelings of enjoyment regarding Rags !  HOWEVER, I can at least say that I do indeed enjoy them as they are very fun to me, and I especially love the articulation, which seems to also be present in at least some of your improvs.  And, I just love the piano, especially for rags !

May I be so bold as to ask you what it is that draws you to playing and composing something like this, vs. Classical music ?  Perhaps I already know some of the answer, but I would like to ask you anyhow !  Thanks for posting these .

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

Great job in playing these rags!

I was curious about the word heliotrope, so decided to look it up, and would never have guessed that it has umpteen meanings!  The one that seems to pertain here is that it's both the name of a plant genus as well as as a color, a shade of pink-purple.  Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed your performance.  For the most part Joplin didn't want his rags played too fast.  Your tempo seemed very fitting in respecting his wishes.

Your own composition, The Blue Boncus Drag, (a fantastic title!) was a delight to hear.  While looking back to a bygone era, this music is fresh and inventive throughout.  The rag is somewhat episodical, but cyclical too as it does a reprise of the original theme for the close.  I loved the harmonies, modulations, dissonances etc.  There's much to commend this piece, so I say Bravo! and Bravo! to the composer-artist.  

P.S. The H4 did a fine job in recording.      

[ted]

 K. and rachfan - thanks to both of you for the compliments and I am pleased you enjoy the music.

"Boncus" was our pet name for our son and the piece was a conscious musical description of him in his pre-school years. One retirement project is relearning all my old compositions, of which there are many more lying about than I thought, and making better recordings of them.

Your questions, Karli. I do not have the foggiest idea why I like ragtime so much, at least no more than why I prefer monkfish to salmon or brazil nuts to peanuts. The personal articulation ? Many other people have commented on that, not necessarily in either praise or criticism but just that it exists, so I am bound to admit to it, although I do not care to analyse it too much. I conjecture its origin must primarily lie in never having had any tuition in technique at all and the forty year habit of using a practice clavier. The effect of these things surely cannot be negligible.

I hasten to add that I do enjoy playing and listening to a lot of classical music - "classical" including romantic, and I have written very many romantic piano pieces myself. The only reason I don't post my recordings of common repertoire classical pieces is that I don't think I play them well enough, nothing more.