Wall Street Rag
{{Short description|1909 composition}}
{{Infobox musical composition
| name = Wall Street Rag
| image = WallStreetRagcover.jpg
| border = Yes
| alt = A single point perspective line drawing of Wall Street during the early 20th century
| image_caption = The 1909 frontal cover of the sheet music looks down towards Trinity Church, and the dark-suited crowd in front of the Stock Exchange.
| composer = Scott Joplin
| published = {{start date|1909}}
| form = A Syncopated March and Two Step
| genre = Ragtime
| publisher = Seminary Music Co. of New York
| misc = center
}}
"Wall Street Rag" is a ragtime composition by Scott Joplin, first published in 1909. As indicated by the title, the theme is based on Wall Street following the events surrounding the Panic of 1907. This is represented in the musical structure along with its corresponding annotations.{{cite web|last1=Edwards|first1=Bill|title=Rags and Pieces by Scott Joplin (1906-1917)|url=http://www.perfessorbill.com/pbmusic_joplin2.shtml|website=RAGPIANO|access-date=16 March 2017}}
History
{{external media
|float=right
| audio1= [http://www.perfessorbill.com/covers/wallst.htm Scott Joplin, "Wall Street Rag", 1909], performed by Bill Edwards
|video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRGypF1YuxQ Scott Joplin, "Wall Street Rag", 1909]}}
In 1909, the "Wall Street Rag" by Scott Joplin was published. The copyright was registered February 23, 1909 to Seminary Music Co. of New York.
Musical structure
:Intro A A B B C C D D{{cite book
|last=Jasen
|first=David A.
|author2=Trebor Jay Tichenor
|title=Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History
|publisher=Dover Publications, Inc.
|year=1978
|location=New York, NY
|page=[https://archive.org/details/ragsragtimemusic00jasen/page/93 93]
|isbn=0-486-25922-6
|url-access=registration
|url=https://archive.org/details/ragsragtimemusic00jasen/page/93
}}
Unlike most of his rags during this time, this composition is based on a major historical event and features footnotes unique to the theme of this piece. Moreover, this arrangement uses a “Very Slow March Time” rather than the “Slow March Time” used in his other compositions.{{cite web|first=Scott|last=Joplin|author-link=Scott Joplin|url=https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200033283/|publisher=Library of Congress|title=Wall Street Rag|access-date=29 June 2024}} The rag’s opening section begins with notes of Panic in Wall Street, Brokers feeling melancholy, representing the first phase of the recession. The next section of the rag moves from a Chopinesque chromatic style to the right-hand chords and bass octaves of Good times have come, providing an atmosphere of hope within the crisis. The rag finally closes with Listening to the strains of genuine negro ragtime, brokers forget their cares, where the melancholy is all but eradicated by an upbeat ragtime melody.
Legacy
Ragtime scholar John E. Roache praised "Wall Street Rag", calling it "ragtime taken to a higher level."{{cite web|first=John E.|last=Roache|author-link=John Roache|url=http://johnroachemusic.com:80/wallst.html|work=John Roache's Ragtime MIDI Library|title=Wall Street Rag, Scott Joplin|date=1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031120171801/http://johnroachemusic.com:80/wallst.html|access-date=20 November 2003|url-status=usurped|archive-date=2003-11-20}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite web|first=David|last=Wighton|url=https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/wall-street-is-tapping-along-to-the-deregulation-beat-20170213|title=Wall Street taps along to the deregulation beat|publisher=Financial News|date=2017}}
External links
- Sheet music at Wikimedia Commons
- [https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200033283// Sheet music] at the Library of Congress website
- {{IMSLP|work=Wall Street Rag (Joplin, Scott)}}
{{Scott Joplin}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Compositions for solo piano
Category:Compositions in C major
Category:Songs about New York City
Category:Works about financial crises
Category:Songs about economics
{{1900s-song-stub}}