Cleopha (Scott Joplin, 1902) [SJ14]

Scott Joplin - Cleopha Style: March and Two Step Year: 1902 Form: Intro A A B B A C C D D Keys: F/F/F/Bb/Bb "The year 1902 would prove to be a truly prolific one for Joplin given his scant solo output since the publication of Maple Leaf Rag three years prior. Perhaps now that he had fully settled in St. Louis the combination of ragtime influences in that town along with more time to pursue composition spurred this surge. Although most of his output for 1902 would be piano rags, one early entry for the year was this interesting march. It was surprisingly not published by John Stark. Whether this was a display of independence or Stark's reluctance to publish a non-ragtime piece is debatable. The opening strain is clearly a strict march. The B section shows probable tendencies towards syncopation, which can easily be brought out with a little experimentation. The trio returns to the strict march while the final strain, sparse in places, again shows some flexibility in terms of rhythmic patterns. Ultimately Cleopha never enjoyed the widespread distribution of some of his other pieces of this time period, in part because Stark would soon add New York to his publishing base while Cleopha's publisher Simon would remain in the central Midwest." (from ragpiano.com) ------- 🎹 Piano: Kawai CN33 📷 Camera: Samsung Galaxy A52 ☕️ Buy me a Coffee == https://buymeacoff.ee/danielsthings 🙏 Donate on PayPal == https://paypal.me/danielsthings #ragtime #scottjoplin