Search-Light Rag
in B♭ major
Scott Joplin 1868–1917
B♭ major
Key
Slow march tempo
Tempo
Listen
Finding a recording…
Difficulty
Our estimate Intermediate
—No community ratings yet0 votes
Sign in to add your rating.
Themes & character
Named for a mining town·Slow march tempo·Published 1907·New York period
At a glance
- Key
- B♭ major
- Tempo / character
- Slow march tempo
About the piece
Published in 1907 and dedicated, according to its cover, to the Nevada mining town of Searchlight, a boomtown of the period. Joplin had by then moved east, and the rag appeared through a New York publisher rather than John Stark.
The score is marked Slow march tempo, one of many such instructions with which Joplin fought a losing battle against performers who insisted on playing ragtime fast.
The composer
Scott Joplin
1868–1917
Scott Joplin 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 "Maple Leaf Rag", became the genre's first and most influential hit, later being recognized as the quintessential rag. Joplin considered ragtime to be a form of classical music meant to be played in concert halls and largely disdained the performance of ragtime as honky tonk music most common in saloons.
Comments
Sign in to join the conversation.
Loading…