Solace and Other Short Works

Rating:
Summary: Not essential to ragtime, but insight into Joplin's heart.
Review: In 1971 I first purchased the NYPL edition of the Collected Works (later Complete Works) of Scott Joplin. The first volume had all of his piano instrumentals, (plus 3 additional rags in the Complete works) save Frolic of the Bears from Treemonisha. It is now hard to find, and people have to scavange a bit to get a copy.

So now we have the next best thing - sort of. I wanted to give this book a better rating because of my admiration of the composer, much less my knowledge of his works through recording them all over the past few years for CD release. It is intended to balance out the alternate Dover title Complete Piano Rags. But in that regard there are still omissions. This book contains Joplin's Marches and Waltzes, as well as his single tango that the book is titled for and one collaborative rag (Lily Queen).

While these pieces are not quite piano rags or even ragtime (except Lily Queen, and arguable for Solace and Bethena) they do represent a balance for a disciplined composer who was serious not only about his work, but about making the ordinary into something much more.

But I have a question that I am not alone in asking. Between these two volumes, what about the missing pieces? We have to find another source for them now? These include Cleopha (A March), and The Chrysanthemum (of which many of us have had spirited discussions with editor Dave Jasen as to its rag vs.intermezzo status). Two pieces are hardly enough to create another volume, yet the Chrysanthemum in particular is so rich and enjoyable to play and listen to that this omission is frustrating indeed.

This consideration aside, if you don't have the NYPL edition, Solace is still worth having as a compliment to Complete Rags. And you can always come to my ragtime site to listen to the missing pieces if you want.