Scott Joplin |
Jelly Roll Morton |
We celebrate both Scott Joplin and Jelly Roll Morton as American originals and classicists. Joplin (1867-1917), as the “King” of classical ragtime composers and Morton (1890-1941), as a progenitor of what has come to be considered early jazz, both as composer/arranger and (thankfully), recorded performer.
Joplin was a classicist in the most traditional and technical
sense. His piano writing adhered to
European music theory practices in harmony, voice leading and compositional form. (For example, there’s little difference
between the highly, formulaic musical structure of Joplin rags and Sousa
marches: AA/BB/A/CC/DD).
The magnificent results of Joplin’s’ genius was his blending of European classicism and African American derived
folk melodies - both inextricably bound
to a uniquely subtle and sophisticated binary, ragtime
syncopation. (On occasion, there is even
an early suggestion of blue-notes - flatted 3rds, 5ths - but these are always supported
by conventional harmonies or quickly resolved as non-harmonic tones).
“Euphonic’s Sounds” (1909), comes
from a particularly rich year of Joplin rag composition. It also coincides with
the beginning of Joplin’s obsession to write his grand, ragtime opera, “Treemonisha".
By 1907, Joplin had moved to New York City in order to be in a more compatiblle cultural
environment that might artistically and financially support a staging
of “Treemonisha”.
All this is to say, if you’re familiar with Joplin as the composer
of “Maple Leaf Rag”, “Easy Winners” and “The Entertainer” – you may well be
surprised by Euphonic Sounds' very ambitious and surprising composition.
Clearly, Euphonic Sounds is a rag. It adheres to Joplin’s
(and generally), classical ragtime's consistent use of sequential 16-bar strains. Certainly, its 4-bar intro and first theme
sound fairly much like business as usual.
The second theme, however, is where the traditional ragtime wheels
come off, and even the initiated may think they’re losing count. Yes, there are plenty of two-bar repetitions
as befitting Joplin’s 16-bar strains, but in “Euphonic Sounds”; they serve an
entirely different purpose.
To illustrate this point, let’s look at the arch-typical
second-strain of Joplin’s 1908 rag, “Fig Leaf”.
Here, the 16 bars strain conforms to 2, clearly defined -8 bar segments, divided into 4-bar phrases with clear thematic reiteration:
Here, the 16 bars strain conforms to 2, clearly defined -8 bar segments, divided into 4-bar phrases with clear thematic reiteration:
2nd Strain: “Fig Leaf”
----------- 16 bars ------------
1st half: 4+4: 2nd
half: 4+4)
Conversely, and quite
atypically, “Euphonic Sounds'” second strain creates a 16-bar, through-composed arc, whose
melodic material evolves through several jarring modulations, reaching a highly romantic climax at bar 13:
Additionally, as Rudi Blesh and others have noted, there is a
suspension of the traditional bass-note-chord construct, a hall mark of not
only ragtime in general, but upcoming stride piano playing.
Stride pianist, James P. Johnson (for one), cited “Euphonic
Sounds” for its modernism. But while mind
reading should never pass for scholarship, was Joplin’s rebellious 2nd strain
in Euphonic Sounds more focused on
expanding his concept of ragtime into another form of classical music, or even so-called, serious modern music?
And what was Jelly Roll Morton thinking when he imposed the
descending, parallel voicings of disorienting dominant 9th chords in 1929’s “Freakish”?
Was Morton, on the cusp of being passe, thinking of cornetist, Bix Beiderbecke’s
1926 foray into impressionism called “In a Mist” (played quite well, actually, by Bix on piano)? Or, was he simply trying to say, “Don’t
tell me, I get this modern stuff!”
And if he did get it, he may well have signaled he didn’t much care for it my calling his
composition “Freakish”.
Don’t get me wrong. I
love “Freakish”, and thanks to the most excellent transcriptions of James
Dapogny (in this case, transcribed from Morton’s 1938 Smithsonian recordings
with Alan Lomax, at a more relaxed, “Don’t
tell me, I get this swing-thing” tempo), I very much enjoy playing it.
But was Morton trying to sound modern, or was he mocking
it? After all, Morton’s “Freakish” conceit was about juxtaposing the
dominant 9th chord
sonorities with more and longer sections based on more like ragtime-like lyricism and harmonies.
But for Morton, "Freakish" was another tune of many in his
club date and recording career. Joplin’s Euphonic Sounds
might have been a 16 bar cry for a different kind of recognition.
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