Rags by two Scotts (Joplin and Kirby)

Synopsis

For many years Ragtime composer Scott Joplin’s birth date was listed as November 24, 1868, but recent research suggests it was more likely sometime during the second half of 1867.

Joplin was born in Texarkana, Texas. His family played the banjo, violin, and guitar, but little Scott was fascinated by the piano in a neighbor’s house. Some German musicians in Texas taught him the European classics. By age 17, Joplin was on the road performing in the honky-tonks of St. Louis. In 1894, Joplin moved to Sedalia, Missouri, where he began to write original music while performing at a place called the Maple Leaf Club, which was to lend its name to his most famous piece, the “Maple Leaf Rag.”

Scott Kirby, a contemporary composer of ragtime, shares Joplin’s first name. Born in Urbana, Ohio, Scott Kirby lived and worked for a time in New Orleans. In addition to performing the classic rags of Scott Joplin and the New Orleans romantic composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Scott Kirby composed brand-new rags in a style he calls “Terra Verde.“

“Terre Verde,” says Kirby, “is a contemporary cousin of Ragtime with roots in a wide variety of American ethnic music, as well as strong ties to European Romantics of the 19th century, such as Chopin and Schumann.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Scott Kirby Dance of the Antilles Scott Kirby, piano Viridiana 2001

On This Day

Births

• 1897 - American jazz pianist and composer Willie ("The Lion") Smith, in Goshen, N.Y.;

• 1911 - Finnish composer Erik Bergman, in Uusikaarlepyy;

• 1927 - American composer Emma Lou Diemer, in Kansas City, Missouri;

• 1934 - Russian composer Alfred Schnittke, in Engels, near Saratov;

• 1953 - American composer, conductor and cellist Tod Machover, in New York City;

• 1960 - American composer and double-bass virtuoso, Edgar Meyer;

Premieres

• 1726 - Bach: Sacred Cantata No. 52 ("Falsche Welt, dir trau ich nicht") performed on the 23rd Sunday after Trinity as part of Bach's third annual Sacred Cantata cycle in Leipzig (1725/27);

• 1839 - Berlioz: dramatic symphony, "Romeo and Juliet," at the Paris Conservatory;

• 1874 - Dvorák: opera "King and Collier," in Prague;

• 1876 - Tchaikovsky: opera “Vakula the Blacksmith,” in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Dec. 6);

• 1886 - Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F, Op. 99, in Vienna;

• 1888 - Tchaikovsky: symphonic fantasy overture “Hamlet” (after Shakespeare), in Moscow (see Julian date: Nov. 12);

• 1932 - Hilding Rosenberg: opera "Voyage to America," in Stockholm;

• 1944 - David Diamond: "Rounds" for string orchestra, by the Minneapolis Symphony, Dimtri Mitropoulos conducting;

• 1945 - Elie Siegmeister: "Western Suite," by the NBC Symphony, Arturo Toscanini conducting;

• 1949 - Carl Ruggles: "Organum" for large orchestra, by the New York Philharmonic, Leopold Stokowski conducting;

• 1984 - Christopher Rouse: “The Surma Ritornelli “ for chamber ensemble, by the Syracuse (N.Y.) Society for New Music;

• 1987 - Michael Torke: “Adjustable Wrench” for chamber ensemble, at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival by the Lontano ensemble, Odaline de la Martinez conducting;

Others

• 1859 - The legendary American soprano Adelina Patti makes her operatic debut at age 16 in New York City, singing in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor";

• 1963 - Leonard Bernstein conducts New York Philharmonic in Mahler's Symphony No. 2 as JFK Memorial Concert telecast on CBS-TV;