However, research by Joplin's later biographer Edward A. Joplin's first biographer Rudi Blesh wrote that during its first six months the piece sold 75,000 copies, and became "the first great instrumental sheet music hit in America". There have been many claims about the sales of the "Maple Leaf Rag", for example that 1 million copies of the sheet music were sold in the composer's lifetime, making Scott Joplin the first musician to sell 1 million copies of a piece of instrumental music. Problems playing this file? See media help. Modern ragtime composer Ron O'Dell has commented that the song has characteristics in common with rap, such as the lyrical themes, the lyrics being written in the African American Vernacular English of the time, and the fact that the lyrics are sung over the least melodic strain of the music. While the men are jealous of his dancing abilities and draw their razors, the women love him, and the "finest belle" sends for a carriage and the two of them ride away. Brown's lyrics tell the story of a poor man from Accomack County, Virginia, who stumbles into a ballroom where, in spite of his anxiety over the state of his appearance, he manages to wow the crowd with the Maple Leaf Rag. In 1903, Stark issued a "Maple Leaf Rag Song", an arrangement of Joplin's music with words by Sydney Brown. The composition starts in the key of A-flat major and changes to D-flat major during the first part of the trio, then modulates back to A-flat major. In addition, the first strain of Joplin's "The Cascades," "The Sycamore," "Leola," and "Sugar Cane" are modeled on the structure Joplin created for the first strain of "Maple Leaf Rag." "Gladiolus Rag," a later composition by Joplin, is a developed variant of the "Maple Leaf Rag" showcasing Joplin's increasing musical sophistication, and is usually played at a somewhat slower tempo. When it was first published, it was considered significantly more difficult than the average Tin Pan Alley and early ragtime sheet music common at the time. Generally, the piece is considered difficult one must have very good coordination in the left hand to perform the piece successfully, particularly for the trio, which involves leaps of two octaves.
It is more carefully constructed than almost all the previous rags, and the syncopations, especially in the transition between the first and second strain, were novel at the time. The piece may be considered the "archetypal rag" due to its influence on the genre its structure was the basis for many other rags, including "Sensation" by Joseph Lamb. Each of the four parts features a recurring theme and a striding bass line with copious seventh chords.
"Maple Leaf Rag" is a multi- strain ragtime march with athletic bass lines and offbeat melodies. The rag was reissued in 1900 or 1901 with a new cover showing a green maple leaf and a photograph of Joplin. The "Maple Leaf Rag" was published between August 10 and September 20, 1899, when the United States Copyright Office received two copies of the score. After approaching several publishers, Joplin signed a contract with John Stillwell Stark on Augfor a $0.01 royalty on all sales of the rag, with a minimum sales price of $0.25. The exact circumstances which led to publication of the "Maple Leaf Rag" are unknown, and there are versions of the event which contradict each other.
įront cover of the third edition of the "Maple Leaf Rag" sheet music Prior to its publication, Joplin anticipated that the piece would be a success-he told Arthur Marshall that "The Maple Leaf will make me the king of ragtime composers". The "Maple Leaf Rag" was already known in Sedalia prior to its publication in 1899 composer and pianist Brun Campbell claimed to have seen the manuscript of the work in or around 1898. His first published rag was " Original Rags" (March 1899). Īlthough there were hundreds of rags in print by the time of the "Maple Leaf Rag's" publication, Joplin was not far behind. It is possible that the rag was named after the Maple Leaf Club, although there is no direct evidence to prove the link, and there were probably many other possible sources for the name in and around Sedalia at the time. Joplin played as a solo musician at dances and at the major black clubs in Sedalia, among them the "Maple Leaf Club". Joplin arrived in Sedalia in 1894 as a touring musician and stayed with the family of Arthur Marshall, who later became one of Joplin's students and a ragtime composer in his own right.
The "Maple Leaf Rag" is associated with the city of Sedalia, Missouri, although there is no record of Joplin having a permanent residence there before 1904.
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