"Weeping Willow" is a 1903
classic piano ragtime composition by
Scott Joplin
Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...
.
It was one of Joplin's simpler and less famous
ragtime
Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...
scores, written during a transitional period in his life, and one of the few pieces that Joplin cut as a piano roll in a 1916 session.
Music
"Weeping Willow" is sub-titled "A rag time two step", which was a form of
dance
Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
popular until about 1911, and a common style among rags written at the time.
Its structure is: Intro A A B B A C C D D
The A and B sections are in the key of
G major
G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...
very lofty and highly melodic. The "B" section makes good use of alternating patterns creating interesting melodic shifts. The Trio ("C" section) is in the key of
C major
C major is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and its parallel min ...
; its chord progression was popular in black folk songs, and was used in
Eddie Miller's ''Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do''. The D section emphasizes another fine melody, and accentuates the variety found between sections.
Publication history
Joplin's recent scuffle with
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 ...
over the publication of
The Ragtime Dance
"The Ragtime Dance" is a piece of ragtime music by Scott Joplin, first published in 1902.
Publication history
Although the piece was performed in Sedalia, Missouri on November 24, 1899, it wasn't published until 1902. John Stillwell Stark h ...
created a level of animosity between composer and publisher. Weeping Willow became the second of many pieces published by a firm other than Stark's since
Maple Leaf Rag
The "Maple Leaf Rag" (copyright registered on September 18, 1899) is an early ragtime musical piece composed for piano by Scott Joplin. It was one of Joplin's early works, becoming the model for ragtime compositions by subsequent composers. It ...
.
The copyright was registered June 6, 1903, and sheet music was published by the Val A. Reis Music Company of
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
. The piece was also released on Connorized piano rolls.
See also
*
List of compositions by Scott Joplin
The following is a complete list of musical compositions by Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917).
Scott Joplin was born in Arkansas in about 1867, just outside Texarkana, Arkansas, Texarkana, and was a street performer before settl ...
References
External links
"Perfessor" Bill Edwards plays Joplin with anecdotes and research.
*
Compositions for solo piano
1903 compositions
Rags by Scott Joplin
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