![]() He was the second of six children, and his parents had musical talent-his mother, Florence, played the banjo and was a singer, his father Giles played violin. The Ku Klux Klan was active in northeast Texas, and Black laborers who worked in white family homes, such as Joplin’s mother, could be fined for leaving the home without permission, impudence, or swearing, among other “offenses” that could be deemed “disobedience.”īut Scott Joplin’s mother was determined to give her son an education, and by the age of 12, Joplin was living in Texarkana with his family, where he was in school, and learning music. The Civil War may have ended, but it was still a dangerous time for Black families in the south. For this special series of African American Voices on KPAC, we’re looking back at Scott Joplin’s life and music, with the help of pianist Lara Downes, whose new album of Joplin’s music, “ Reflections,” reexamines his piano rags and melodies, some in fresh new arrangements, and Rick Benjamin, who reconstructed Joplin’s opera “Treemonisha” for a new generation.įlickr user QuesterMark Scott Joplin Historical Marker in Texarkana.īy most accounts, Scott Joplin was born near Texarkana, in 1868. But racism and a public that only saw him as a popular tunesmith stood in the way. He also was a “classical” musician, who aspired to write opera, a symphony, and a piano concerto. Scott Joplin was the King of Ragtime-a syncopated, march-like popular style of piano playing developed by Black musicians in the late 19th century. He grew up to be one of the most famous musicians in America as the 19th Century turned into the 20th … then died penniless and forgotten less than two decades after the height of his fame… only to be rediscovered and celebrated half a century later. ![]() He was born in Texas, just six years after the Emancipation Proclamation, and three years after the passage of the 13th amendment to the Constitution. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |