When the 20th century was still young, North America was ruled by the sounds of ragtime. A wave of ragtime enthusiasm also swept into Europe and composers such as Claude Debussy, Erik Satie, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud and Paul Hindemith paid tribute to this fresh and lively musical style.
But while the pieces of these composers are still alive and can frequently be heard in concerts (e.g “Golliwogg’s Cakewalk” by Debussy, or Stravinsky’s Ragtime in “The Soldier’s Tale”), the musicians and composers of the ragtime era have remained almost unknown in Europe. With one exception: African-American composer Scott Joplin, was already considered the “King of Ragtime” during his lifetime and whose music has regained great popularity since the 1970s through the Hollywood film “The Sting”.
Ragtime originated towards the end of the 19th century, in the course of the clash of different cultures in North America. From a musical point of view, ragtime proved to be a fascinating melting pot in which a wide variety of musical influences came together to create a new and refreshingly lively style: European folk, art and dance music mixed with African-inspired work songs, spirituals and blues sounds.
Ragtime was also the first popular style of music in North America. People of all skin colors – whether black or white, young or old, male or female, amateur or professional – played and loved this music. The publication of the first ragtime piece in sheet music in 1897 and the death of Scott Joplin in 1917 framed the ragtime age. After 1917 – significantly, America’s entry into World War I – ragtime had to give way to a new fashion: jazz. In the 40s and 50s, however, the audience’s interest in the roots of American music grew again. This led to a veritable ragtime renaissance in the 60s and 70s. Countless ragtime pieces have been rediscovered or re-released. They showed how multi-layered and varied ragtime could be.
In addition to the undoubtedly brilliant Scott Joplin, interest finally turned to the many other African-American and white, male and female composers.
Similar to tango, which originated at the same time in Latin America, ragtime, with all its liveliness, is located in a world of expression that sensitively balances exuberance and melancholy. Surely this is also a reason why ragtime continues to enjoy great public favor after more than 100 years beyond all fashions and styles: After all, what person is not familiar with the oscillation between such extremes?