Ophelia Rag

At a glance

• What it isa ragtime piece for solo piano.
• Who, whenpublished in 1910 by James Scott, a Missouri musician.
• What to listen forthe off-beat syncopation of the right hand, and the moment the music moves on to a new melody.

Listen for

• The walking left handone low note, one chord. From start to finish the left hand keeps up its oom-pah almost without a break. This even stride is the floor the piece stands on.
• The leaping right handScott's rags are often described as sending the right hand widely between high and low registers. See whether a short phrase of similar shape comes back at a different height.
• Repetitiona classic rag usually plays each melody twice before moving to the next. The second time you already know the tune, so it is much easier to hum along.

When it was written

Around 1910 ragtime was popular music in America, selling widely as piano sheet music. It was common for a family to keep a piano at home and for relatives or neighbors to gather and try out a new piece. Rags also spread on the paper rolls of player pianos, whose keys moved by themselves.

Ragtime grew up among African American musicians in the late nineteenth century. Scott, a Black musician born and raised in Missouri, was right in the middle of that current. At about the same time, Scott Joplin was in New York preparing his opera Treemonisha. Today Scott is counted, with Joplin and Joseph Lamb, among the three composers who represent classic ragtime.