(ENTERTAINMENT MUSIC) Scott Joplin Wall Street Rag

Sale 2663 - Lot 199

Price Realized: $ 1,875

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200

(ENTERTAINMENT--MUSIC.) Scott Joplin. Wall Street Rag. 3, [1] pages plus illustrated wrappers, 13¾ x 10½ inches; wrapper splitting along fold, otherwise minor wear. New York: Seminary Music, 1909

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Additional Details

One of Joplin's more popular pieces, inspired by the Panic of 1907 which had recently shaken Wall Street. The music does not have lyrics, but is accompanied by brief narrative notes: "Panic on Wall Street, Brokers feeling melancholy"; "Good times coming"; "Good times have come"; "Listening to the strains of genuine negro ragtime, brokers forget their cares."

The piece is in "Very Slow March Time," and is preceded by Joplin's strong advisory: "NOTE: Do not play this piece fast. It is never right to play Ragtime fast. Composer." Somebody needs to get this news to our nation's ice cream trucks.

Printed on the inner wrappers and the final unnumbered page are three shorter earlier pieces which were copyrighted in 1906 and 1908: "Pine Apple Rag," "Sugar Cane," and "Devil March." The cover illustration by Frew depicts a crowd of anxious brokers on Wall Street. "One of his most memorable compositions"--Argyle, "Scott Joplin and the Age of Ragtime," page 70.

2 in OCLC (Indiana University and Historic New Orleans); collates with the Library of Congress copy, the presumed first edition. None traced at auction.