Scott Joplin - The Complete Rags Marches & Waltzes / Albright

$32.99
Label
Nimbus
Release Date
November 1, 2009
Format
Added to Cart! View cart or continue shopping.


    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      JOPLIN, SCOTT
    • PERFORMER
      William Albright
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      November 01, 2009
    • UPC
      710357254628
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      NI2546-8
    • LABEL
      Nimbus
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      3
    • GENRE
      Instrumental
    Works ⌄

    1. Maple Leaf Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    2. Original Rags

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    3. The Favorite

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    4. The Easy Winners

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    5. Peacherine Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    6. The Entertainer

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    7. The Strenuous Life

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    8. Elite Syncopations

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    9. A Breeze from Alabama

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    10. Palm Leaf

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    11. Weeping Willow

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    12. The Cascades

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    13. The Sycamore

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    14. The Chrysanthemum

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    15. Leola

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    16. Eugenia

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    17. The Ragtime Dance

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    18. Nonpareil

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    19. Reflection Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    20. Gladiolus Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    21. Searchlight Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    22. Rose Leaf Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    23. Pine Apple Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    24. Fig Leaf Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    25. Sugar Cane

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    26. Country Club

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    27. Paragon Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    28. Wall Street Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    29. Euphonic Sounds

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    30. Solace

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    31. Stoptime Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    32. Scott Joplin's New Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    33. Silver Swan Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    34. Magnetic Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    35. The Crush Collision March

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    36. Harmony Club Waltz

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    37. Combination March

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    38. Swipesy Cake Walk

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Arthur Marshall

      Performer: William Albright

    39. Augustan Club Waltz

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden

      Performer: William Albright

    40. Sunflower Slow Drag

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden

      Performer: William Albright

    41. Cleopha

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    42. March Majestic

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    43. Something Doing

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden

      Performer: William Albright

    44. Bethena

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    45. Rosebud

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    46. Blinks'Waltz

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    47. Antoinette

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    48. Heliotrope Bouquet

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Louis Chauvin

      Performer: William Albright

    49. Lily Queen

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Arthur Marshall

      Performer: William Albright

    50. Pleasant Moments

      Composer: Scott Joplin

      Performer: William Albright

    51. Felicity Rag

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden

      Performer: William Albright

    52. Kismet

      Composer: Scott Joplin, Scott Hayden

      Performer: William Albright




JOPLIN Complete Rags, Marches, Waltzes • William Albright, (pn) • NIMBUS 2546/8 (3 CDs: 211:40)


William Albright was a major figure in the ragtime revival, along with his friend and colleague in academia, William Bolcom. Together they recorded music of Joplin and James P. Johnson; separately, each composed and played many rags on his own, which they sent to the other for amusement and comment. These were recorded as well, though Albright’s album of his own rags is sadly no longer in print. It’s a pity, as he was a fine pianist with a strong technique, and a fine sense of style. That technique and especially the style are on display in this fine set of Joplin’s rags, marches, and waltzes, recorded over a four-day period in 1989 for the defunct MusicMasters label.


No collection of Joplin, of course, can claim to be truly complete. Some rags almost certainly went unpublished, and it is believed others might have been published under pseudonyms. What we have are 49 works definitely by Joplin or composed by him in collaboration with others. They span The Crush Collision March of 1896 to the Magnetic Rag of 1914, his last composition before tertiary syphilis killed him. A third and separate category is formed of doubtful attributions, rags that would have been credited to Joplin at the height of his evanescent fame, much in the spirit that French and Dutch music publishers in the final quarter of the 18th century produced far more string quartets and symphonies by Haydn than Haydn ever wrote. None of these apocrypha are offered here, save one, a curious piece, the Silver Swan Rag , included on stylistic grounds. Discovered in 1970, and twice performed on piano rolls from the 1914–1915 period, it is credited to Joplin, but shows some notable flaws of compositional technique. Albright surmises in his liner notes that it was probably an early work, held back for years, but we’ll likely never know why Joplin would have chosen to record it, if he did, since other, finer works of his were at his fingertips.


Albright avoids an anachronistic, speed demon approach that would be more appropriate to latterday stride pianists such as James P. Johnson or Willie “The Lion” Smith. Nor does he break heavily in such pieces as The Entertainer or the beautiful Weeping Willow for nostalgia addicts. Rhythmically firm, he avoids sudden shifts of tempo, preferring to maintain a steady pace or subtly accelerate through the four strains of a standard rag. His dynamic palette is broad, though he applies variation sparingly once again. Clarity of touch does not preclude beauty of tone, as The Cascades shows. Albright takes obvious enjoyment in the music he is playing.


Potential buyers might want to note that this is not “purist” Joplin, though it is perhaps all the more authentic for not exactly following the published scores. Like an earlier Joplin enthusiast and performer, “Knocky” Parker, Albright sometimes improvises or alters—though always more tastefully than the erratic Parker, who devalued these works by sometimes coining his own additional melodic lines. Albright’s most frequent type of change is the double-dotting of the thematic content, something he applies for example to the B section of Easy Winners , instead of playing it straight as written. Elsewhere, he may perform chords off the beat instead of the written figurations on it, as in the B section of The Maple Leaf Rag ; or strum a figure before the introductory chords to the A section repeat, as in The Entertainer ; or vary the repeat of a few D section chords in a blues direction, as in Elite Syncopations . The results are a matter of brief, tasteful highlights, and typical of the way rags were lightly embellished (by all reports) during and after Joplin’s lifetime.


With good notes by Albright and fine sound, it’s great to see this recording rereleased by a major classical label. Hopefully, it will bring new attention to both the composer and pianist—and maybe lead to Albright’s performance of his own rags showing up once again. Strongly recommended.


FANFARE: Barry Brenesal