Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin (c. 1867/1868? – April 1, 1917) was an African-American composer and pianist. Joplin achieved fame for his ragtime compositions, and was later titled The King of Ragtime. During his brief career, he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas.

Quotes

 * That’s who I am. I don’t look much like him now with my foot wrapped up and all that kind of business.
 * When asked by Joseph Lamb if he was Scott Joplin, as quoted in "The Day Joseph Lamb Met Scott Joplin" (2 January 2016), by Doug Hanvey, Music Appreciation & Analysis, Oregon: Portland Piano Lab


 * Boy, when I'm dead twenty-five years, people are going to begin to recognize me.
 * As quoted in King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (1996), by Edward A. Berlin, p. 3


 * Syncopations are no indication of light or trashy music, and to shy bricks at "hateful ragtime" no longer passes for musical culture.
 * As quoted in King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (1996), by Edward A. Berlin, p. 196

"School of Ragtime" (1908)

 * School of Ragtime (1908), by Scott Joplin


 * What is scurrilously called ragtime is an invention that is here to stay. That is now conceded by all classes of musicians.
 * Never play ragtime fast at any time.

"Wall Street Rag" (1909)

 * Panic in Wall Street, brokers feeling melancholy.
 * Good times coming. Good times have come.
 * Listening to the strains of genuine negro ragtime, brokers forget their cares.