"Frog Legs Rag" is a
classic rag
Classic rag (short for classical ragtime) is the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers. These compositions were first considered "classic" by Joplin's publisher, John Stark, as a way t ...
composed by
James Scott and published by
John Stillwell Stark
John Stillwell Stark (April 11, 1841October 21, 1927) was an American publisher of ragtime music, best known for publishing and promoting the music of Scott Joplin.
Early life and education
Stark was the eleventh of 12 children born to Adin S ...
in December 1906.
It was James Scott's first commercial success.
Prior to this composition Scott had published marches.
With "Frog Legs Rag", Scott embarked upon a career as a successful and important
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott J ...
songwriter.
Background
In 1909,
Scott Joplin orchestrated "Frog Legs Rag" for publication by John Stillwell Stark, Joplin's publisher,
and his company,
Stark Music Company.
Edward A. Berlin
Edward A. Berlin is an American author and musicologist who is most known for his research and written works on the Ragtime artist, Scott Joplin. Berlin has written three books on this topic: ''King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (1994)'', ' ...
, author of the Joplin biography ''King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era'' asserts that there was no direct evidence that James Scott and Scott Joplin were personally acquainted. "They certainly knew each other's music," Berlin affirms while describing the Joplin orchestration, and they "had similar temperaments, both being mild-mannered, quiet, and thoroughly engrossed in their music". However, he considers assertions of personal acquaintance between the two men to be speculation.
Other music historians take a different view. The authors of ''Black Bottom Stomp'' credit Joplin for discovering and mentoring the young artist "even while his
oplin'sown career was faltering" and assert that "Frog Legs Rag" was published "at Joplin's insistence".
Structure
Ragtime encyclopedist David A. Jasen identifies a number of characteristic James Scott compositional devices in this early work.
Jasen's appraisal of "Frog Legs Rag" is not unreserved: he also places "Frog Legs Rag" within the early period when James Scott compositions were "flag-waving" and lacking in the restraint the songwriter developed after 1906.
Unlike Joplin, who lengthened traditional ragtime phrasing, Scott explored the genre's dynamic qualities with shortened phrasings.
Reception
Among songs published by Stark, "Frog Legs Rag" was second in sales after Joplin's "Maple Leaf Rag".
"Frog Legs Rag" has been described as "brash" and "exuberant". It was also considered to be a landmark in ragtime sheet music, composed with "vigor" and "brilliance", and to be "one of the great hits of the ragtime years".
References
External links
*
![wikisource-logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg)
Sheet music of
Frog Legs Rag at
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online digital library of free-content textual sources on a wiki, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole and the name for each instance of that project (each instance usually re ...
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1906 songs
Rags
Compositions for solo piano
Songs with music by James Scott (composer)