Six Joplin Rags

This volume consists of six rags composed by Scott Joplin, arranged for oboe, clarinet and bassoon (trio d'anches) by Teil Buck. The Maple Leaf Rag was first published in 1899 and as a result of its popularity, Joplin was from then on referred to as the "King of Ragtime." The Palm Leaf Rag was composed in 1903 while Joplin lived in St. Louis, Missouri and was composed at the same time as his first opera, "A Guest of Honor," which was subsequently lost. The Swipesy Cakewalk was composed in 1900 by Scott Joplin along with his composition student Arthur Marshall, whose family he lived with during the late 1890s. The title of The Easy Winners comes from the same sporting expressionin which an athlete wins an event without difficulty, and the original cover depicted scenes of baseball, football, horse racing and sailing. The Favorite was composed in 1904, and although not much is known about it, its publication came around the same time as three other famous rags, "Cascades," "The Sycamore," and "The Chrysanthemum." The last piece in the collection, The Entertainer, is one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever written. It was orchestrated and used as the theme music for the 1973 Oscar-winning film "The Sting," which heightened its popularity even further.