He and Lottie moved from to Midtown to Harlem as that neighborhood became a center of black culture. While “Treemonisha” became his obsession and his financial condition worsened, Lottie turned their house into a boarding house and a “no-tell motel” with rooms rented by the hour.
From 1914 comes Joplin’s last rag, one of his greatest masterpieces. Unlike its predecessors, he bars it in 4/4, not the traditional 2/4. By now he has settled on a cyclical format where the “A” theme comes back twice at the end but not in the middle. But there is another surprise. Joplin rarely works in a minor key, but here the “B” theme is not only in the relative minor (G minor to B-flat Major), there is real bitterness in the melody. The “C” theme dispels the darkness. But then the “D” theme, in the corresponding minor (B-flat minor to B-flat Major), brings on the anguish. The return of the “A” theme dispels the darkness and brings Joplin’s last rag to a close where it began, quiet and contemplative in its last notes. This is Joshua Rifkin’s classic recording from 1971.
In 1915, Joplin rented a hall in Harlem and staged a rehearsal of “Treemonisha” with himself on piano. There was no lighting, no staging, no orchestra, and it flopped badly. Joplin was crushed.
He worked in fits and starts after that but couldn’t finish anything. His creative voice was stilled. His mental state became worse as syphilitic dementia set in. Lottie finally had him committed to the state mental hospital at Ward’s Island. He had occasional lucid moments when he could scribble notes on bits of paper, but eventually he went catatonic. He died in 1917 at age 49 on the very day the US entered World War I. His exit couldn’t have been better timed. The ragtime era was over. Following the war, the new musical form would be jazz.
There was a small scale revival of Joplin’s music in the Forties and Fifties, but it was Joshua Rifkin’s recording of 1971 that set off the Great Ragtime Revival and brought Joplin to a wider audience.
It would take 57 years for “Treemonisha” to be properly staged. The first production was done at Morehouse College in 1972, backed by the Atlanta Symphony under Robert Shaw. But the staging that attracted attention occurred in 1975 at the Houston Grand Opera, known for its cutting edge productions and the staging of obscure works. In this case, they brought in composer Gunther Schuller to finish the orchestration and conduct the opera. It was a huge hit.
Deutsche Grammophon issued the opera in 1976. In 1986, PBS broadcast the Houston Grand Opera production with Ruby Dee yakking all through the overture. This version has not been issued in any digital video format, and I’m not even sure about the old VHS format. This is a fine work and an outstanding production.
Scott Joplin: “Treemonisha” (Overture)
These videos are all pirated from PBS. Joplin was a brilliant composer for chorus.
Monisha, mother of Treemonisha, tells the story of her daughter in an aria steeped in the sentimental sounds of late 19th Century popular music.
Parson Alltalk checks in with a chorus that sounds like a mixture of minstrel show and gospel.
A chorus and barbershop quartet from the CD.
(“Aunt Dinah Has Blowed the Horn” & “We Will Rest Awhile”)
Pirated from PBS. Great ending!
Once staged in Houston, “Treemonisha” showed that Joplin’s work in a larger form was worthy of production. This opera may well stand the test of time and reside next to Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess”.
Like Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Stephen Foster, Scott Joplin’s life ended tragically at an age far too young. But he paved the way for George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and Billy Joel. He stands today as a monument of American music.
Tomorrow night: The Classical Piano Pieces of Billy Joel
Thanks, my, for the video tunes for the troops to enjoy. ((HUGS))
Did you keep busy when FR was down?