Joplin, Scott (1868-1917), was the leading composer of ragtime, a lively, rhythmic kind of music written chiefly for the piano. Joplin gained his greatest fame for “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899). He was also a well-known ragtime pianist.
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Joplin, the son of a former slave and a freeborn black woman, was born between July 1867 and January 1868. He grew up in Texarkana, Texas. He left home at the age of about 14 and played piano in various saloons. About 1894, Joplin settled in Sedalia, Missouri. There he first played lead cornet in the Queen City Cornet Band. He later played piano in a saloon called the Maple Leaf Club. John Stark, the owner of a Sedalia music store, helped make Joplin famous by publishing “Maple Leaf Rag” and many of his other compositions, including “Peacherine Rag” (1901) and “The Cascades” (1904).
Joplin moved to St. Louis in 1901. There he wrote his first opera, A Guest of Honor (1903, now lost), and took it on tour. In 1907, Joplin moved to New York City to find a producer for his not-yet-completed opera Treemonisha (1911). He became increasingly depressed because no one would produce Treemonisha. Joplin was committed to a mental hospital in 1917 and died there on April 1, 1917. The popularity of ragtime ended about that time.
An edition of the complete works of Joplin in 1971 revived interest in Joplin’s compositions. The popular movie The Sting (1973) used Joplin rags as its background score. Productions of Treemonisha brought Joplin added fame. In 1976, the Advisory Board on the Pulitzer Prizes awarded Joplin a special citation for his contribution to American music.
