The "Swipesy Cakewalk" is a

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 ...

composition written in 1900 by a musical duo consisting of

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin ( 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Because of the fame achieved for his ragtime compositions, he was dubbed the "King of Ragtime." During his career, he wrote over 40 original ragtime pieces, one ra ...

, who composed the trio, and the young composer Arthur Marshall, who composed the rest of the piece. "Swipesy" uses the simple syncopations of a

cakewalk The cakewalk was a dance developed from the "prize walks" (dance contests with a cake awarded as the prize) held in the mid-19th century, generally at get-togethers on Black Slavery in the United States, slave plantations before and after End ...

- the first beat being a sixteenth, eighth, sixteenth note division, and the second beat an even eighth note division. The style follows the AA BB A CC DD

musical form In music, ''form'' refers to the structure of a musical composition or musical improvisation, performance. In his book, ''Worlds of Music'', Jeff Todd Titon suggests that a number of organizational elements may determine the formal structure of a ...

common for both cakewalks and rags, particularly after the earlier publication of Joplin's hit "

Maple Leaf Rag The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical composition for piano composed by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, and became the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent compos ...

". Only the C section, composed by Joplin, departs from the cakewalk rhythm and is more pure ragtime. The composition was written in the late 1890s when Joplin was living with the Marshall family, and was teaching Arthur, composition. "Swipesy" begins with a four-measure introduction in

B-flat major B-flat major is a major scale based on B, with pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative minor is G minor and its parallel minor is B-flat minor. The B-flat major scale is: : Many transposing instr ...

(two flats). It modulates to

E-flat major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has three flats. Its relative minor is C minor, and its parallel minor is E minor, (or enharmonically ...

(three flats) for the trio (C) section, returning to B-flat for the final (D) section. It is thought that Joplin wrote the trio and Marshall wrote the A, B and D strains. A popular legend says that the title was suggested 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 ...

, one of Joplin's original publishers, when "Swipesy" was first being considered for publication.Hinson, Maurice. ''At the Piano with Scott Joplin''.(1990) Van Nuys, California: Alfred Publishing Co. The photograph which was to appear on the cover of the new (and unnamed) composition featured a young Sedalia newsboy with a shy expression on his face. Stark allegedly remarked that the boy's countenance seemed to suggest that he had just "swiped" something from a cookie jar. "Lets call he tune'Swipesy'," said Stark, and thus the title was decided. Marshall gave another explanation of the title's origin during a 1960 interview: he and Joplin had just delivered the music to Stark's office when two newspaper boys began quarreling outside, one swiped a newspaper from the other, and Stark, upon observing this, suggested that they name the work "Swipesy". The copyright for this piece was registered on July 21, 1900.

References

External links

Sheet music and mp3
at mfiles.co.uk (interactive version require

{{Authority control 1900 compositions Compositions for solo piano Rags by Scott Joplin

See also

References

External links