Scott Joplin : a guide to research /

To most, Scott Joplin conjures up ragtime, but that musical genre existed before him. Although several myths are associated with Joplin, most serious researchers agree that he was born into a musically gifted family near Marshall, Texas, about 1868 and was an itinerant musician for several years until "Maple Leaf Rag" (1899) established him as a respectable musician-composer. In 1976 Joplin was awarded a Pulitzer Prize posthumously for his compositions. Ping-Robbins claims correctly that "this is the first resource guide to published material on Scott Joplin and encompasses a wide variety of items having to do with the man, his life, his music, and his influence on ragtime throughout the twentieth century." Following an informative introduction and a chronology of Joplin's life, interests, publications, etc., the main body of the guide consists of lists of Joplin's works, nonmusical texts, selected folio editions, ragtime editions, collections at institutions, discographies and rollographies, awards and honors, radio programs, and the like. The largest part of the work is an essential 185-item bibliography. The very popular opera Treemonisha and "Maple Leaf Rag" occupy separate sections. Except for a general discography, recordings are omitted. This seminal Joplin guide deserves a prominent place in all music reference collections. G. T. Johnson; Central State University (OH)