It's a weird thing to have him "preserved" like this in a way; but, it's also a super unique way to have an artist preserved as well. Interesting to think how much is the wobbliness his condition, the recording, or the method OF the recording? At times it sounds like he struggled to make it all happen here. Surprises me to hear how much he embellished his own material and deviated from what he had written vs. what he sort of improvised on the spot as he was getting "recorded" this way.
Scott Joplin suffered from neurosyphilis in his later years, and the piano rolls he recorded in the mid-1910s were definitely evident of this. Many, including his infamous 1916 recording of Maple Leaf Rag, were off-tempo, disjointed, he made mistakes, and I believe this rendition of Maple Leaf Rag played by him shows signs of his mental degradation.
I have an honest question, why did Scott Joplin say never to play rag too fast? I can't find sources for his reasoning other than people saying he simply didn't like it.
I cannot speak for Mr. Joplin, but I can speak for myself. The reason why I don't think it should be played too fast is because if played too fast, the embellishments and synchopations lose all flavour and vigour. These melodic embellishments come to expression far more vehemently when played at a slower tempo as it allows for the melodies and rhythms to be more clear through intonation and accent. Also, I always considered Ragtime a quite depressing and sad genre of music, despite its seemingly joyful and bubbly rhythms. So playing the pieces slowly, at least many of Scott Joplins pieces, which were no doubt inspired and crafted under grief and distress, brings out the true emotions of the pieces. So in short, it removes the emotions from the pieces and makes them feel more robotic and souless if they are played too fast. Of course this is all in my opinion.
@@silentbook4468 Oh thanks. It does make sense. I can understand the depressing interpretation part. I do here it often in his rags. With Magnetic Rag (the last rag published), I imagine Scott Joplin being on his last legs, dying from chlamydia. On 2:10 (even though this is a bit too fast to portray that), it sounds like he is depressed because he isn't rightfully recognized for his talent and he'll die in obscurity. But at 2:28, a burst of optimism comes out and he wrote that in because he knows he is great and will surely leave a great legacy of himself. He even has this quotes of his sureness, “When I'm dead twenty-five years, people are going to begin to recognize me.”.
It's a weird thing to have him "preserved" like this in a way; but, it's also a super unique way to have an artist preserved as well. Interesting to think how much is the wobbliness his condition, the recording, or the method OF the recording? At times it sounds like he struggled to make it all happen here. Surprises me to hear how much he embellished his own material and deviated from what he had written vs. what he sort of improvised on the spot as he was getting "recorded" this way.
Scott Joplin suffered from neurosyphilis in his later years, and the piano rolls he recorded in the mid-1910s were definitely evident of this. Many, including his infamous 1916 recording of Maple Leaf Rag, were off-tempo, disjointed, he made mistakes, and I believe this rendition of Maple Leaf Rag played by him shows signs of his mental degradation.
I’ll admit, while it is played quite fast, fast music does sound good in it’s own way. Definitely a great recording!
Played a bit too fast but I like that this roll hasn't been messed with unlike the Maple Leaf Rag roll!
Scott Joplin made that piano roll long ago
@@FilipinoFurry I know that but QRS made a very bad edited arrangement of Maple Leaf Rag during the 40's and I was unlucky enough to buy it...
@@PiotrBarcz goodluck buying another one, best wishes
@@FilipinoFurry Thanks, QRS is actually cutting the good version now so that should make things easier
Thanks for including the visual of the player piano working. Who knew something like this could make the music even a bit better.
I have an honest question, why did Scott Joplin say never to play rag too fast? I can't find sources for his reasoning other than people saying he simply didn't like it.
I cannot speak for Mr. Joplin, but I can speak for myself. The reason why I don't think it should be played too fast is because if played too fast, the embellishments and synchopations lose all flavour and vigour. These melodic embellishments come to expression far more vehemently when played at a slower tempo as it allows for the melodies and rhythms to be more clear through intonation and accent. Also, I always considered Ragtime a quite depressing and sad genre of music, despite its seemingly joyful and bubbly rhythms. So playing the pieces slowly, at least many of Scott Joplins pieces, which were no doubt inspired and crafted under grief and distress, brings out the true emotions of the pieces. So in short, it removes the emotions from the pieces and makes them feel more robotic and souless if they are played too fast. Of course this is all in my opinion.
@@silentbook4468 Oh thanks. It does make sense. I can understand the depressing interpretation part. I do here it often in his rags. With Magnetic Rag (the last rag published), I imagine Scott Joplin being on his last legs, dying from chlamydia. On 2:10 (even though this is a bit too fast to portray that), it sounds like he is depressed because he isn't rightfully recognized for his talent and he'll die in obscurity. But at 2:28, a burst of optimism comes out and he wrote that in because he knows he is great and will surely leave a great legacy of himself. He even has this quotes of his sureness, “When I'm dead twenty-five years, people are going to begin to recognize me.”.
the most recent thing I heard was that he never said to not play fast. That phrase was added to his works later on.
This is very nice, the tempo is a bit off though. It sounds a bit too fast, but otherwise this is a very nice roll.
I agree, the tempo is a bit fast but the roll is pristine
Tempo sounds about right to me.
A bit too fast but very nice