UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI April 20, 2007 Date:___________________ Yeung Yu I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of:

Doctor of Musical Arts in:

Piano Performance It is entitled: A Style Analysis of William Bolcom's Complete Rags for Piano

This work and its defense approved by: Joel Hoffman Chair: _______________________________ James Tocco _______________________________ Awadagin Pratt _______________________________

_______________________________ _______________________________

A Style Analysis of William Bolcom’s Complete Rags for Piano A doctoral document submitted to the

Division of Graduate Studies and Research of the University of Cincinnati

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS

In the Keyboard Studies Division of the College-Conservatory of Music

2007 by

Yeung Yu

B.M., Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China, 1993 M.M., Texas State University, 1999

Advisor: Joel Hoffman, DMA

Abstract

William Bolcom: Complete Rags for Piano is a collection of twenty-two of Bolcom’s piano rags written between 1967 and 1993. In this research, the rags are examined year by year; the stylistic analysis focuses on the use of form, rhythm, harmony, melody, and musical texture in each rag. In these rags, Bolcom perfectly blended a variety of musical styles and elements, including American traditional ragtime styles such as classic rag and stride styles, the nineteenth-century romanticism of Chopin and Schumann, and modern compositional techniques, such as tone clusters and atonal passages. By means of these varied compositional techniques, the music acquires a distinctive sound and identifies what has become known as Bolcom’s unique ragtime style.

iii

iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the numerous people who helped make the completion of this research possible. First, I would like to thank the members of my committee, Dr. Joel Hoffman, Mr. James Tocco, and Professor Awadagin Pratt, for the time they spent on guiding my research. I would like to thank Mr. William Bolcom for taking time and offering me an extremely important face to face interview. I would also like to thank all my dear friends who helped me on this research. Finally, I would like to thank my wife, my parents, my parents-in-law, my children, and the rest of my family for their support of my graduate study.

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: Introduction………………………………………………………………

1

Chapter 2: The Evolution of Ragtime……………………………………………….

3

Chapter 3: The Development of William Bolcom’s Musical Style…………………

23

Chapter 4: Bolcom Talks about Ragtime: An Interview with William Bolcom……

32

Chapter 5: A Style Analysis of William Bolcom’s Complete Rags for Piano……...

45

Three Classic Rags……………………………………………………

47

1. Glad Rag……………………………………………………………

47

2. Epitaph for Louis Chauvin………………………………………….

51

3. Incineratorag………………………………………………………...

55

Three Popular Rags……………………………………………………

59

4. Seabiscuits…………………………………………………………..

59

5. Tabby Cat Walk…………………………………………………….

63

6. Last Rag…………………………………………………………….

66

7. California Porcupine Rag…………………………………………...

70

8. Eubie’s Luckey Day………………………………………………..

77

vi

The Garden of Eden………………………………………………….

84

9. Old Adam…………………………………………………………..

85

10. The Eternal Feminine………………………………………………

89

11. The Serpent’s Kiss…………………………………………………

93

12. Through Eden’s Gates……………………………………………..

105

13. Lost Lady Rag……………………………………………………..

109

Three Ghost Rags……………………………………………………

116

14. Graceful Ghost Rag……………………………………………….

116

15. The Poltergeist…………………………………………………….

120

16. Dream Shadows…………………………………………………...

127

17. The Gardenia……………………………………………………..

132

18. Rag-Tango………………………………………………………..

135

19. Knight Hubert……………………………………………………

144

20. Raggin’ Rudi…………………………………………………….

151

21. Fields of Flowers………………………………………………...

153

22. Epithalamium…………………………………………………....

158

Chapter 6: Conclusion…………………………………………………………..

163

Selected Bibliography…………………………………………………………..

165

vii

CHAPTER 1 Introduction

William Bolcom (b. 1938) is known as one of the most important contemporary American composers. His large body of musical work covers most of the important types of musical compositions, including symphonies, operas, concertos, sonatas, chamber music pieces and songs, and solo pieces composed for organ and piano. Bolcom is an active composer; his compositions have been consistently performed in recent years, and his new works are commissioned with premieres scheduled. His Seventh Symphony: A Symphonic Concerto premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 19, 2002, conducted by James Levine; his Eighth Symphony for chorus and orchestra will be premiered by the Boston Symphony in 2008. Following the positive reception of his significant operas MC Teague and A View from the Bridge, Bolcom’s most recent opera, A Wedding, premiered at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in December 2004. Among Bolcom’s chamber works, his Eleventh String Quartet was first performed on October 25, 2003. As a well-known pianist and composer, Bolcom has also greatly contributed to piano music: two sets of Twelve Etudes for Piano continues the tradition of Chopin and Liszt in which the Twelve New Etudes won the Pulitzer Prize for music in 1988, Nine Bagatelles for Piano was written for the 10th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1997, and his Nine New Bagatelles for Piano premiered in early July 2006. Among Bolcom’s great achievements in piano literature, his Complete Rags for Piano is considered to be a major work, comprising twenty-two piano rags written from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. These rags descend from the tradition of early

1

twentieth-century American ragtime, blending classic ragtime style with nineteenthcentury romanticism and modern compositional techniques. In order to gain a detailed understanding of Bolcom’s ragtime style, this paper will be divided into several chapters: a summary of traditional ragtime styles, an investigation of the development of Bolcom’s musical style, an interview with Bolcom, and the musical analysis of twenty-two of Bolcom’s rags. This research will begin with a discussion of a variety of traditional ragtime musical styles and musical dance forms related to ragtime music from the late 1890s to the 1920s. For example, classic ragtime style developed mainly in Missouri, absorbing many cakewalk and march music features, whereas stride style was a popular East Coast ragtime style related to the development of animal dances, blues, and jazz styles. Both classic ragtime style and stride style are reflected in Bolcom’s rags. The next chapter will discuss the development of Bolcom’s musical style, starting during his years as a student and continuing through the 1980s and 1990s. Following that is a transcript of an interview with Mr. Bolcom, discussing how he came to be interested in rags and revealing his explanation of how to play his rags. Since Bolcom absorbed various forms of traditional rag styles and infused them into his new rags, a complete analysis of the forms, rhythms, harmonies, melodies, musical textures, and styles of Bolcom’s rags will be discussed in the last chapter of this research. The goal of this research is to enable performers to gain complete understanding of Bolcom’s ragtime style and to allow them to interpret his rags authentically.

2

CHAPTER 2 The Evolution of Ragtime

Ragtime is regarded as the first truly American musical genre, and flourished from the late 1890s to the late 1910s until it was replaced by jazz in the 1920s. The first research book about ragtime was not published until the 1950s: They All Played Ragtime, written by the earliest influential ragtime/jazz scholars Rudi Blesh and Janet Harris. Beginning in the 1970s, more research was done studying ragtime, focusing on definitions and more detailed discussions of the genre. One history of ragtime states: Ragtime is a musical composition for the piano comprising three or four sections containing sixteen measures each which combines a syncopated melody accompanied by an even, steady duple rhythm. 1 As ragtime features special forms and rhythms, its style is regarded as very unique: Ragtime is unique in that it represents the first formal blending of European and West African musical elements. The form and harmony came from Europe; the rhythmic concept came from West Africa. 2 Several different sources and styles constitute what is known as ragtime. The term “ragtime” came from two separate words: “rag” and “time.” “Time” refers to rhythm. A “ragged time” means that the rhythms are uneven. Thus, “the term ‘ragtime’ stems from the music’s most characteristic trait, its syncopated rhythm.” 3 The term ragtime was commonly used after the 1890s, when the two separate words virtually became one. The syncopated rhythm in ragtime has its origins in African-American music. Before the term ragtime was applied to this particular kind of syncopated music 1

David A. Jasen and Trebor Jay Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History (New York: The Seabury Press, 1978), 1. 2 John Valerio, Stride & Swing Piano (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003), 4. 3 Edward A. Berlin. “Ragtime and Improvised Piano; another view,” Journal of Jazz Studies v.4 (spring/summer 1977): 4-5.

3

in the 1890s, people had already heard similar syncopations in some other AfricanAmerican musical forms, such as plantation spirituals, work songs, and minstrel shows. During the evolution of ragtime, other rhythmic features such as the habanera or tangolike syncopations also merged into ragtime, which indicates that ragtime could absorb elements from Latin-American musical styles as well. 4 Louis Moreau Gottschalk (18291869), one of the most significant nineteenth-century American pianist-composers, incorporated African, Caribbean, and Creole rhythms and melodies into many of his works, such as Bamboula, with bold syncopations, which prefigured ragtime. 5 Evidence indicates that ragtime existed long before the first so-called “ragtime song” was published in 1896. In 1886, the “ragged” rhythm existed in African-American dance music in New Orleans’s Congo Square. In 1888, a Nebraska banjoist referred to a kind of banjo music called “broken time,” which “gives strong support to ‘ragged time’, as the etymology of ‘rag-time.’” 6 At the World’s Fair of 1893 in Chicago, people reported hearing a kind of music with strong syncopations. Several years later, newspapers referred to this as the first appearance of ragtime to the public. 7

Ragtime vs. March, Cakewalk, Fox Trot and Other Dance Music

Most historians agree that the syncopated rhythm is one of the most important features that can be used to distinguish ragtime from other American musical forms. 4

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (London Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2001), s.v. “Ragtime,” by Edward A Berlin. 5 Irving Lowens and S. Frederick Starr, “Gottschalk, Louis Moreau,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, 25 March 2007 . 6 John Edward Hasse, “Ragtime: From the Top,” in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, ed. John Edward Hasse (New York: Schirmer Books, 1985), 6. 7 Ibid, 8.

4

Since the earliest ragtime music appeared, however, it has been associated with several types of dances such as the march, the cakewalk, and the two-step, and to distinguish among them technically is not easy. For example, some dance music was originally unsyncopated, but later, when ragtime music was being played to accompany that particular dance, people would dance to syncopated rhythms regardless of whether the dance was originally syncopated or not. More often syncopated ragtime music coexisted with the originally unsyncopated dances in the ballroom and they bore the same labels. 8 Compared to several popular musical dance styles of the late 1890s, ragtime was a more recently developed musical style. The march and cakewalk preceded the appearance of ragtime by several years, and actually contributed to the formation of ragtime. According to many musical researchers, several basic elements of ragtime clearly came from march and cakewalk styles. 9 By the 1910s, as the march and cakewalk dances gradually went out of fashion, new dances such as the “turkey trot,” “one-step,” and “fox trot” took their places and the new musical dance styles further influenced ragtime. The dances brought new features into ragtime, such as the dotted rhythm, while ragtime started to lose some of its early basic features, such as cakewalkstyle syncopations. The march was one of the most important musical forms that contributed to the formation of ragtime. Many ragtime pieces carry a title or subtitle of “march” or some performance instructions such as “in the tempo of a march,” indicating the close connection between ragtime and the march. The march gained popularity in both America and Europe because of the performances of John Philip Sousa’s band during the 8

Edward A. Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980), 13. 9 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin.

5

late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. Many people at that time believed that Sousa’s band played the most authentic American ragtime music, because they regarded the march as equal to ragtime. In fact, Sousa’s band played only a certain number of rags, and Sousa, as the director, recorded only a few of them. 10 The march shares many similarities with ragtime, and it definitely influenced ragtime in many areas; in particular, it informed conceptions of form and tonal design. 11 Like ragtime, the march comprises several strains, and the strains in the subdominant keys are called the “trio.” One of the most commonly used forms for the march is AABBCCDD; in ragtime, this is also a popular form. Another influence of the march on ragtime was in the setting of tempo and meter. Early rags adopted not only march tempos but also all of the meters of the march except 6/8 time. 12 The march also heavily influenced ragtime in other areas of rhythm; for instance, the “oom-pah” accompaniment patterns of ragtime clearly come from the march. Although the march influenced ragtime in many aspects, it is not identical to ragtime. One of the major differences is that ragtime contains heavily syncopated rhythms, while the march does not. Once syncopations were added to the march, it became ragtime. 13 Cakewalk was another musical genre which significantly influenced ragtime. It appeared somewhat earlier than ragtime: Cakewalk preceded ragtime into print by five years (the first being Opelika Cakewalk in 1892), and their vogue lasted until about 1903. They were originally written as accompaniments to the traditional dance finale of minstrel shows, the high-kicking strut known as the walkaround. 14 10

Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 99-100. Ibid, 100. 12 Ibid. 13 Ibid. 14 David A. Jasen and Gene Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast (New York: Schirmer Books, 2000), xxviii. 11

6

Accompanied by cakewalk music, the cakewalk dance itself came from AfricanAmerican culture: The cakewalk, a grand-promenade type of dance of plantation origins in which the slave couple performing the most attractive steps and motions would “take the cake,” enjoyed a dramatic revival shortly before the establishment of ragtime. Spurred by exhibitions and contests in the early 1890s, interest in the cakewalk eventually brought this plantation dance to the ballrooms of the United States and Europe, where it retained a following into the first decade of the twentieth century. 15 Cakewalk music actually developed from the musical style of the march. For example, in a cakewalk piece the left hand usually keeps steady march-style “oom-pah” musical patterns which feature alternation between bass notes and chords as accompaniment to the right hand’s repetitively patterned and occasionally slightly syncopated melody. 16 Cakewalk influenced ragtime but is also distinct from ragtime in several aspects, mainly in its musical functions and the musical complexities of the rhythms and harmonies. In terms of functions, cakewalks were originally written for a specific style of dancing, while rags were written for listening, playing, or more free-form dancing: Cakewalks were written for the set of specific and well-known steps of this dance (as waltzes, tangos, and polkas had their own tempos and musical forms), and when partygoers heard a cakewalk, they knew exactly what to do (as they knew how to waltz, tango, and polka). When a dance ensemble played a rag, there was no set of specific steps, no particular “rag dance,” that came to mind. 17 Just as their functions differ, ragtime also differs from cakewalk in its rhythms. Comparing the rhythms in cakewalk and ragtime, the syncopations in cakewalk are more repetitive and predictable, while the syncopations in ragtime are much more complex. 18

15

Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 104. Ibid. 17 Jasen and Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, xxviii. 18 Ibid, xxv. 16

7

Furthermore, cakewalk places more emphasis on melody than harmony, so its harmonies are not as sophisticated as ragtime’s, and its melodies are usually easier to sing or hum; in contrast, in ragtime, not only are both the harmonies and melodies much richer, but also the melancholy musical expression has no counterpart in the cakewalk. 19 The confusion in labeling a piece as cakewalk or ragtime went in both directions during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. When publishers promoted a new rag to the public, they would call it a “cakewalk” for better sales.20 Later on, “As ragtime’s popularity grew (and as the cakewalk was fading), publishers appended the words ‘rag’ to the titles and subtitles of many of their cakewalk numbers to get them out of the store.” 21 For example, in 1899, a cakewalk by the black Detroit songwriter Fred S. Stone was published with the title of Bos’n Rag. 22 Since consumers of the music did not really care about the technical distinctions between ragtime and cakewalk or other musical dance forms, the publishers sometimes created titles randomly. A single rag could bear multiple titles, such as Ragtime Cakewalk. The foxtrot was another type of popular social dance that flourished at the beginning of the twentieth century. The foxtrot and other dances including the “turkey trot,” “pony trot,” and “chicken scratch,” are collectively referred to as “animal dances.” Foxtrot, turkey trot, and other types of social dances at that time, such as one-step and slow drag, became associated with ragtime after the 1910s. The turkey trot had only a two-year life before it died out in 1914, the one-step lasted from 1913 to 1917, and the slow drag never became a prominent genre. Only the foxtrot lasted for a long time and

19

Ibid, xxviii-xxix. Ibid, xxv. 21 Ibid, xxix. 22 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 17. 20

8

therefore probably influenced ragtime the most amongst the animal dances. Some musical scholars assume that dotted rhythms in ragtime after the 1910s came from the foxtrot, because “trot” was usually dotted. 23 When new characteristics from the foxtrot merged into ragtime, ragtime gradually lost its basic identifying elements, such as syncopated rhythms, and “this process ultimately led to the disintegration of ragtime as a distinctive musical type.” 24

Ragtime and Coon Song

Coon songs are short stories in song which existed in American minstrel and vaudeville traditions long before the appearance of ragtime. Around 1880, coon songs became popular. “Coon” is “a derogatory term for African Americans and by extension for music that used the rhythmic and harmonic style of African Americans but was often set with broad dialect lyrics that caricatured their lives.” 25 Usually coon songs were sung by white female “coon shouters.” 26 For comic effects, their lyrics expressed AfricanAmerican culture in very negative ways: Coon song lyrics were usually couched in minstrel-show dialect, and they dealt solely in black stereotypical character and situations: the eating of watermelon and possum, domestic fights, sexual boasting, and shenanigans in church. 27 Coon songs were not only written by white composers but also by African-American

23

Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 14, 149. Ibid, 14. 25 Mary Kay Duggan, “Coon,” African Americans in California Sheet Music, 25 March 2007 . 26 Sam Dennison, “Coon Song,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy, 25 March 2007 . 27 Jasen and Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, xxx. 24

9

song writers. A typical example is All Coons Look Alike To Me, which was written by Ernest Hogan in l896. 28 Coon song melodies contain syncopations, but the syncopations are relatively simple and more like everyday speech. They usually emphasize the funny stories of the lyrics more than the melodies. Surprisingly, despite this important difference “in the 1890s, [coon songs] acquired the additional label of ‘ragtime.’” 29 During those years, coon song and ragtime were often confused. One of the reasons was that “publishers tried to cash in on two fads at once by issuing rags that looked like coon songs and coon songs that looked like rags. 30 For instance, in 1898, Harry Von Tilzer published a coon song under the title of Rastus Thompson’s Rag Time Cake Walk. 31 There are some major distinctions between coon song and ragtime, though: coon song does not emphasize sophistication in its melodic writing, while ragtime features more sophisticated melodies; also, coon song relies on only one basic type of syncopation, while ragtime contains all sorts of complex syncopations. For various reasons, after the turn of the twentieth century, ragtime flourished while coon song gradually lost its popularity and finally faded out around 1905. 32

Instrumental Ragtime and Ragtime Song

Although instrumental ragtime and ragtime song gained popularity during almost

28

“In Search of Coon Songs, Racial Stereotypes in American Popular Song,” 2000, Parlor Songs, 25 March 2007, . 29 Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 5. 30 Jasen and Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, xxix. 31 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 17. 32 Jasen and Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, xxx.

10

the same period, from the 1890s to the 1910s, they contain different musical features. When used by modern historians, the term ragtime usually refers to instrumental ragtime rather than ragtime song. Ragtime song has no fixed style. The earliest so-called ragtime songs were actually coon songs, and during the 1890s, coon songs and ragtime songs were not distinct in style. 33 The first printed music which used the words “rag” and “ragtime” was a coon song published in August 1896 by Ernest Hogan, called All Coons Look Alike to Me, with an optional chorus titled “Negro ‘Rag’ Accompaniment.” 34 Some other similar ragtime-coon songs from that time are still known today, such as A Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight (1896) by Theodore and Hello! Ma Baby (1899) by Joe Howard and Ida Emerson. 35 After the 1900s, almost any American popular song with a lively rhythm in duple or quadruple meter would be called a rag song, even a twelve-bar form blues. 36 For example, in 1912 Handy’s Memphis Blues was accepted as a successful ragtime song. 37 Ragtime song and instrumental rag have few characteristics in common. In terms of musical forms, the two-section ragtime song, which includes a verse and a chorus, does not differ from the forms of other types of popular songs at the time, while instrumental rag always contains three, four, or more themes and strains. 38 With regard to rhythms, unlike instrumental rags, ragtime songs put little emphasis on syncopations. One typical case is that the professed greatest ragtime song hit in 1911, Alexander’s

33

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Hasse, “Ragtime: From the Top,” in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, 7. 35 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 36 Edward A. Berlin, “Ragtime Songs,” in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, ed. John Edward Hasse (New York: Schirmer Books, 1985), 75. 37 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 38 Jasen and Jones, That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast, xxxi. 34

11

Ragtime Band by Irving Berlin, actually has little to do with syncopations. 39 However, ragtime song and instrumental rag could also be transformed into each other; many rags were actually published in both instrumental and song versions. For example, Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin was published in 1899 in a piano solo version, but it was published in a song version in 1903. When instrumental rags were transformed into song versions, some themes and strains were cut from the original version to fit the new format. On the other hand, a ragtime song could also be played as an instrumental piece. 40 After World War I, instrumental ragtime was taken over by another type of American instrumental music, jazz, “while the ragtime song merged with other American popular song forms.” 41

The Earliest Instrumental Ragtime

The purported “first instrumental rag,” published in 1897, was written by the white bandleader William H. Krell and named The Mississippi Rag. 42 Although the publishers boasted that it was “the first rag-time two step ever written,” it contains more features of cakewalk than rag: it starts in a cakewalk-style minor key, and its single-note melody line is fairly simple, like a cakewalk melody; moreover, it contains only slight syncopations. 43 Another very early instrumental rag, Louisiana Rag by Theodore H. Northrup, was published in October 1897 in Chicago. This rag differed significantly from the cakewalks of the time by incorporating heavy syncopations and a multi-theme 39

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Ibid. 41 Ibid. 42 Ibid. 43 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 17. 40

12

formal scheme that was adopted later by Scott Joplin in The Chrysanthemum (1904) 44 In the same year, the first instrumental rag by an African-American composer was published in St. Louis under the title of Harlem Rag; the composer was a St. Louis saloonkeeper named Tom Turpin. The musical writing of Harlem Rag demonstrates sophistication and a maturity in style that surpasses any contemporary cakewalks. 45 In general, Turpin’s rags contain many folk materials, and that early rag style is directly linked to the later classic rag style of Scott Joplin and other composers. 46

Classic Ragtime

The term “classic ragtime” refers to the piano rag style of a group of ragtime composers at the turn of the twentieth century, including Scott Joplin, James Scott, and Joseph Lamb, among whom Joplin is regarded as the most prominent. Joplin was born to an African-American family in northeast Texas in 1868, and he died in New York City in 1917. 47 Joplin received some classical music training from a local German piano teacher at a young age, and his studying of great works from J. S. Bach to Louis Moreau Gottschalk later influenced his ragtime composing. 48 Joplin spent most of his life in cities—Sedalia, St. Louis, Chicago, and New York City—where he composed, performed and promoted his music. In 1899, shortly after Joplin began to sell music to the white publisher John Stark in St. Louis, his Maple Leaf Rag became the best seller of the time. 44

Ibid, 17-18. New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 46 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 21-22. 47 Edward A. Berlin, King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994), 4-5, 238. 48 Jerome J. Wolbert, “The Ragtime Story,” Style of Jazz: Ragtime 1995, 25 March 2007 . 45

13

All of Joplin’s rags have been called “classic rags.” This term was invented by Stark and compares the superior musical quality of Joplin’s rags to that of European art music; “Joplin retained the term ‘classic’ for his rags when dealing later with other publishers as an expression of his artistic aspirations.” 49 Stark also used the term to describe rags by other composers he published later. Among them, James Scott and Joseph Lamb’s rags represent the most sophisticated writing styles. Scott was a close friend and colleague of Joplin; Lamb was a white New York composer and a follower of Joplin’s rag style. Classic rags have many stylistic features, and Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag represents an archetypal example of classic rag style. Maple Leaf Rag has four independent sixteenbar themes, which are also called “strains” or “choruses”; each strain or chorus includes four four-bar phrases and often repeats completely one time. The form of Maple Leaf Rag is “AABBACCDD”. About half of Joplin’s rags use this form. Other typical forms for classic rags include “AABBACCC’,” “AABBCCDD,” and “AABBCCA.” 50 Like Maple Leaf Rag, most classic rags are in major keys; minor keys are rarely used. The first two strains are often in tonic keys: the A strain represents the basic characteristic of the rag, while the B strain is often lighter and contrasts with the A strain in musical character. The C strain—also called the trio—is usually in a subdominant key, and along with the D strain it constitutes the development of the rag. The last strain, the D strain, often represents the triumph of the rag: usually it is the climax of the piece and should be played louder than the other strains. Sometimes it returns back to a tonic key, sometimes not. 51 Harmonically, major triads, minor triads, dominant seventh and diminished

49

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Ibid. 51 Guy Waterman, “Ragtime,” in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, ed. John Edward Hasse (New York: Schirmer Books, 1985), 46-47. 50

14

seventh chords are most common to classic rags. In terms of rhythm, most of Joplin’s rags and other classic rags are in 2/4, and the typical rhythmic feature is a syncopated right-hand melody against a march-style “oompah” accompaniment pattern in the left hand: “As a general rule, the left-hand part reinforced the metre with a regular alternation of low bass notes or octaves on the beat with mid-range chords between.” 52 Maple Leaf Rag includes a variety of syncopated rhythms in each of the four themes; some rhythmic patterns are called tied syncopations and some are called untied syncopations (Ex. 1a, b, c, and d). Tied syncopations feature the use of ties between two musical notes. They are used flexibly in each individual rag, because they vary according to the composer’s taste (Ex. 2a, b, c). Untied syncopations do not have ties, and they emphasize the weak beats. Untied syncopations are related to the cakewalk dance style of the 1890s; they gradually lost popularity after the 1900s. Some untied syncopations contain eighth and sixteenth notes and are faster, while others are slower because they use longer notes (Ex. 3). Ex. 1a. The A theme of Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin.

52

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin.

15

Ex. 1b. The B theme of Maple Leaf Rag.

Ex. 1c. The C theme of Maple Leaf Rag.

Ex. 1d. The D theme of Maple Leaf Rag.

Ex. 2. Tied syncopations.

Ex. 3. Untied syncopations.

16

In performance practice, Joplin’s rags must be played as written rather than with improvisations. The performer should avoid frequent tempo changes, rubato, fast tempos, and swing rhythms. In order to assist the performer in playing the rag properly, Joplin’s musical scores often give performance instructions: “Slow march tempo,” “don’t play fast,” or “Don’t fake.” 53 In the last exercise of Joplin’s School of Ragtime, the composer states: We wish to say here, that the “Joplin Ragtime” is destroyed by careless or imperfect rendering, and very often good players lose the effect entirely, by playing too fast. They are harmonized with the supposition that each note will be played as it is written, as it takes this and also the proper time divisions to complete the sense intended. 54 Therefore, distinction between classic rag style and other ragtime styles or jazz styles relies heavily on the performer’s interpretations. Ragtime/jazz master Jelly Roll Morton used to transform classic rags into jazz simply by adding decorations and changing rhythms. 55

Stride Style

In contrast to classic rag style, an outgrowth of ragtime style, “stride style,” developed during the 1910s and was fully established in 1921 in Harlem, New York City. 56 According to some modern dictionaries, stride style can be defined as a solo jazz

53

Berlin, “Ragtime and Improvised Piano; another view,” 6. Scott Joplin, “School of Ragtime,” in Scott Joplin Complete Piano Works, ed. Vera Brodsky Lawrence (Miami: Warner Bros. Publications, 1981), 286. 55 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 251. 56 Ibid, 240-241. 54

17

piano style. 57 The term “stride” originated because of the striding back-and-forth motion of the left hand, also known as the “oom-pah” pattern in ragtime, in which the left hand alternates between lower bass notes and chords on the middle register of the piano; the term later was used to describe the new musical style in New York City. 58 However, the New York City musicians did not use the term “stride” in referring that style. Instead, they simply called that style “ragtime” or “shout.” In the opinion of Eubie Blake (18831983), who was a stride style master of the 1910s, all syncopated popular music could be considered ragtime. 59 Stride style, also called East Coast ragtime style by music scholars, absorbed many classic ragtime elements while developing new features. In contrast to classic rag style, stride style emphasizes improvisations over strictly following the written music. 60 Another major characteristic of stride style is that syncopations often alternate between the left and right hands, creating counter melody lines. 61 Similar to classic rag style, stride style was led by a group of African-American musicians, among whom the major figures included James P. Johnson, Luckey Robert, and Eubie Blake. 62 Compared to the slower march tempos of classic rag style, stride style highlights faster tempos and more virtuosic piano styles. During musical contests in New York City in the 1920s, in order to win, stride pianists usually played at faster tempos and used dazzling piano techniques such as large leaps of chords, octaves, tenths, and glissandos. 63 James P. Johnson, who has been called the “father of stride style,” referred to those 57

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (London Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2001), s.v. “Stride,” by Robinson J. Bradford. 58 Valerio, 5. 59 Terry Waldo, This is Ragtime (New York: Da Capo Press, 1984), 104, 117. 60 Berlin, “Ragtime and Improvised Piano; another view,” 7-9. 61 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 240. 62 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 63 Berlin, “Ragtime and Improvised Piano; another view,” 8.

18

brilliant stride pieces as “rags” in the 1920s: I played rags very accurately and brilliantly—running chromatic octaves and glissandos up and down with both hands. It made a terrific effect. I did double glissandos straight and backhand, glissandos in sixths and double tremolos. 64 In addition to their emphasis on speed and techniques, stride pieces differ from classic rag pieces in that they often use 4/4 time instead of 2/4 time. The change is extremely significant: once 2/4 becomes 4/4, there is no division of strong and weak beats. All four beats become equal and can be stressed; that is the basic foundation for swing. 65 In their harmonies, stride pieces are much more complex than classic rags. Seventh and sixth chords appear frequently; extended harmonies such as ninth, eleventh, and thirteenth chords feature occasionally. In classic ragtime, the bass line contains mostly single notes or octaves, whereas in stride style, the bass line uses tenths and fifths more often. 66 Another notable difference is that stride pieces extensively use blue notes, which are the flat third and flat seventh notes of a major scale. In early blues singing style, before they were applied to the keyboard, the blue notes were actually located between the natural and the flatted pitches of the notes. To gain the same effect on the piano, minor thirds (blue notes) are often used as grace notes to inflect the major third, and sometimes the crushed minor second is created between the flat third and the natural third on a major scale. 67 In terms of rhythms, stride pieces use swing and dotted rhythms to a great extent. Swing rhythm, which interprets even eighth notes and sixteenth notes as triplets during

64

Tom Davin, “Conversations with James P. Johnson,” in Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music, ed. John Edward Hasse (New York: Schirmer Books, 1985), 174. 65 Valerio, 26. 66 Ibid, 44-45. 67 Ibid, 18-19.

19

performance, is a main feature of jazz, while dotted rhythms are associated with foxtrot and other dances from the 1910s. 68 A more specialized technique used in stride style is “call and response,” which is another typical jazz technique. In a jazz band, after one player or one section of players presents a phrase which represents the “question,” the other members of the band play another phrase to “answer” it. 69 In stride piano pieces, the call can be a short phrase played in a higher register, and then the response might be played in a lower register, sometimes by the left hand. 70 Since many stride style masters did not read music, their pieces rely heavily on improvisation. Unlike the precisely noted music of classic ragtime, improvisations in stride pieces are not usually reflected on the published musical scores, so the transmission of stride pieces mainly relies on piano rolls and recordings. 71 Stride style had a significant influence on jazz. For example, Johnson’s recordings were studied by a series of jazz pianists such as Willie “The Lion” Smith, Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Fats Waller, and Thelonious Monk. 72 Therefore, stride style—improvisational ragtime style — is regarded as a direct forebear of later jazz piano style. 73

Novelty Piano

Novelty piano is a semi-virtuosic musical style which evolved from ragtime in the

68

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Mark Gridley, Jazz Styles: History and Analysis, 3rd ed. (New Jersey: Prentice Hall: A Division of Simon & Schuster Englewood Cliffs, 1988), 53. 70 Valerio, 38. 71 Berlin, “Ragtime and Improvised Piano: another view,” 7. 72 Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 240. 73 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 69

20

1920s. 74 The majority of novelty piano composer-performers had training in classical music, so their pieces often contain extremely complex rhythmic patterns and harmonic progressions. Early novelty pieces present many characteristics of classic ragtime, but also display some influences from the French Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel in their extensive use of combinations of the chromatic scale, whole tone scale, and consecutive fourths. 75 One of the most famous novelty pieces, Kitten on the Keys, written by Zez Confrey (1895-1971) in 1921, illustrates the typical features of early novelty piano style, which uses classic rag style tied and untied syncopations, and impressionistic parallel fourths. Later, novelty composers developed the style in new directions which went far beyond the limitations of ragtime. 76

The Transition from Ragtime to jazz

After the 1910s, different musical features such as dotted rhythms, swing, and blues harmonies merged into ragtime from other musical forms and became widely accepted; ragtime gradually lost its identity. Because of this, for a certain period, the terminology was quite confusing. For example, a single piece could bear the multiple descriptions of rag, foxtrot, blues, and jazz. 77 Ragtime was finally replaced by jazz after World War I. The transition from ragtime to jazz was not a distinct break in musical style; in fact, many ragtime musicians simply began to call themselves jazz musicians after 1920. Jelly Roll Morton, one of the greatest New Orleans jazz masters, contributed

74

Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 162. Jasen and Tichenor, Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History, 214-215. 76 Berlin, Ragtime: A Musical and Cultural History, 162-166. 77 Ibid, 160. 75

21

to the transformation of ragtime into jazz by adding new jazz features to traditional ragtime. 78

Ragtime Revival

The last part of the 1920s and the 1930s comprised the swing era of jazz, while ragtime lost its popularity. 79 In New York City, the stride style pianist-composer Eubie Blake did not write any new rags between that period and 1942. In 1929, ragtime was considered “a thoroughly dead issue.” 80 It was not until the 1940s that a group of white jazz musicians, Lu Watters’s jazz band, started to play some traditional rags. 81 In 1950, the scholars Rudi Blesh and Harriet Janis published the first ragtime research book, They All Played Ragtime, the earliest historical study of the genre. 82 In the late 1960s, William Bolcom became the earliest academic musician to rediscover Joplin’s rags and pay great attention to them. Bolcom and his colleague William Albright (1944-1998) started to perform classic rags in public, “pushing their acceptance as art music.” 83 Their actions soon aroused other academic musicians’ interest in ragtime and gave rise to a ragtime revival. Joshua Rifkin and Gunther Schuller orchestrated Joplin’s rags and made recordings of the rags by treating them like classical music. The revival reached its peak in 1973 when Joplin’s rags became very famous again in the film The Sting. At the age of 90, Eubie Blake returned to the ragtime performing stage, and he worked with Bolcom

78

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Waldo, 133. 80 Ibid, 110, 117. 81 Ibid, 133. 82 New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. 83 Nancy Malitz, “Synthesizer,” Opera News, November 1992, 15-16. 79

22

to contribute to the revival of traditional rags. 84

CHAPTER 3 The Development of William Bolcom’s Musical Style

William Bolcom was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938 and is known as one of American’s greatest living composers. His major works include a large number of symphonies, operas, choral works, concertos, sonatas, chamber works, songs, and piano solo pieces, among which his Twelve New Etudes for Piano won the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. Bolcom is also regarded as “the most unrepentantly eclectic” composer; his musical style blurs the boundaries between European classical musical styles and American pop styles. 85 Robert Carl wrote: A typical Bolcom piece might begin with atonal flourish, develop along hyperintense expressionist lines, suddenly break out into a rag or blues, mix in elements of American pop songs, and conclude with a reference to a classical form (such as a fugue) or to its opening “modernist” elements. In short, the only element that was predictable was its unpredictability. It adhered to neither the uptown-serial nor downtown-minimal aesthetic. 86 Thus the “eclecticism,” which came from his exposure to different kinds of music during his childhood musical education, became one of the most important features of Bolcom’s musical style. Bolcom came from a family with a strong musical tradition for generations. Bolcom’s grandfather, wealthy lumber-mill magnate William Marshall Bolcom, had great enthusiasm for music:

84

New Grove, “Ragtime” by Berlin. Robert Carl, “Six Case Studies in Modern American Music: A Postmodern Portrait,” College Music Symposium 30 (Spring 1990), 45. 86 Ibid, 59. 85

23

He indulged his hobby by conducting the Seattle Symphony in Sousa marches, importing opera troupes, and remodeling a wing of his Seattle mansion to house visiting concert artists. Bolcom’s father, as a child, sat on Paderewski’s knee. 87 By the time William Bolcom was born, however, his family’s economic situation had declined; they had lost all their mills and wealth. As he remembers, they struggled to make a living while he was young: His father—“trained,” as Bolcom says, “to take over the mill we didn’t have”—spent the rest of his life as a small-time lumber salesman, drifting from one shaky firm to another; Bolcom grew up in a succession of bleak, chilly mill towns—Everett, Snoqualmie. Bellingham. “Everett was the most putrid, smelly place—it had this peculiar sulfide smell from the paper mills. Everything was dingy and black from the pollutants in the air. We had little black spots on all our sheets. 88 Living in such situations was not ideal, but the family’s economic problems did not prevent Bolcom from studying music. Both of his parents encouraged his early musical education, recognizing its importance because of their own musical educations during their youths: “His mother, of German extraction, had grown up in South Dakota, where her father sang tenor with the local Singverein.” 89 Probably under the influence of his mother, Bolcom’s musical life started when he showed interest in the piano at the age of three. When Bolcom was eleven years old, he started studying with teachers who had studied under important early twentieth-century European musical figures and educators such as Zoltan Kodaly (1882-1967) and Vincent d’Indy (1851-1931). Bolcom commuted from Everett to Seattle by bus to study composition with John Verrall at the University of Washington. Verrall, who had been a student of Kodaly in Budapest, decisively

87

Micheal Feingold, “Bolcom goes for the Gold,” Village Voice, 1 September 1992, 89. Ibid, 90. 89 Ibid, 90. 88

24

influenced Bolcom’s early compositional approach. As Bolcom remembers, Verrall aroused his fascination with mysticism and encouraged him to try different kinds of music. Mysticism, one of the most important musical elements in twentieth-century music, later influenced Bolcom’s compositional style. While studying composition with Verrall, Bolcom also took piano lessons with Madame Berthe Poncy Jacobson, a Swissborn pianist who was a pupil of Vincent d’Indy. One of the most important things Bolcom learned from her was his awareness of folk songs as the source of all music. 90 In addition to the study of classical music, Bolcom was also attracted to popular songs, country music, jazz and rock and roll, and liked to spend hours listening to and playing Broadway music as well. Bolcom said, “I was trained as a classical musician all my life, but I was always interested in popular music. According to my teachers it wasn’t as good, but I loved it anyway.” 91 During a summer festival in Aspen in 1957, Bolcom met the great French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), one of the most influential figures in twentiethcentury music: “The urbane, prolific Milhaud was one of the great trying-anything figures of 20th-century composing. He had introduced jazz and Brazilian rhythms to French music.” 92 Bolcom very much admired Milhaud’s open-mindedness. Less than a year later, in 1958, Bolcom turned down a full scholarship to study with Paul Hindemith at Yale in order to study with Milhaud at Mills College and eventually abroad: “When Milhaud began splitting his time between California and the Paris Conservatoire, Bolcom followed him.” 93 During Bolcom’s years of study in Paris, he was naturally influenced

90

Ibid, 90. Waldo, 180. 92 Feingold, 90. 93 Ibid, 90. 91

25

by the latest compositions of Messiaen and Boulez, and he also met influential modern composers such as Berio and Stockhausen at conferences in Darmstadt. Although his training focused on modern European compositional styles, Bolcom’s own compositional approach included American musical traits in even his earliest works. One of his early string quartets contains rock and roll elements that caused controversy among the faculty of the Paris Conservatoire, because bringing popular musical elements into classical musical compositions was considered inappropriate by many faculty members at that time. 94 In the subsequent few years, Bolcom earned the degree of Master of Music from Mills College and completed his doctoral studies at Stanford University in 1964. The early 1960s was a critical time for Bolcom in both his musical life and his personal life. For a period of time, he virtually stopped writing concert music. Bolcom claimed, “I thought I’d like to be a pop musician.” 95 Bolcom’s decision to change his approach from classical composition to composition of pop music was partially due to several frustrating experiences during those years, most significantly the unsuccessful premiere of his opera Dynamite Tonite, one of his most important early works. Dynamite Tonite was Bolcom’s first collaboration with Arnold Weinstein, a famous librettist (with whom he later wrote the operas McTeague (1992) and A View from a Bridge (1998-99) which both were huge successes). Furthermore, Dynamite Tonite was one of Bolcom’s first major works combining a variety of different musical styles into a complete whole. In this war opera, the musical styles range “from the Viennese operetta to lounge-act bop,” 96 and the prisoner sings in Wozzeck schtyle, while all of the other characters sing in the popular music style of 1912-1915. Despite Bolcom’s hard work and innovative 94

Ibid, 89. Ibid, 90. 96 Ibid, 90. 95

26

composition, Dynamite Tonite closed abruptly, its only performance being the premiere on December 21, 1963. This made a huge impact on Bolcom’s early musical career. Bolcom’s teaching experience at the University of Washington from the 1965-1966 academic year was not very encouraging, either: “It’s fatal to go back to where they’ve known you as ‘little Billy.’” 97 As for Bolcom’s personal life, within a few years he experienced two failed marriages (for one of which Bolcom later wrote a piano rag titled Lost Lady Rag as a lament). Things finally started to turn around in 1966 (Bolcom now terms 1966 as “the Crisis of 1966”). 98 That was the year he discovered the piano score for Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha and several copies of rags from influential ragtime scholar Rudi Blesh’s collections, and found himself attracted to them immediately: When I discovered ragtime, I discovered a kind of music that I could relate to in every way. I got knocked out by Scott Joplin. I think he’s one of the greatest guys of all time. He interested me because he was the first American who was able to take all of these various sources of music and synthesize them. . . . 99 Bringing ragtime music into the concert hall, however, was not an easy task; people in the late nineteenth century held differing opinions about ragtime, and even into the midtwentieth century there was controversy about accepting ragtime as art music. Many musicians felt that Native American (Indian) music was more suitable for the concert hall than the lower-class music that had started with black slaves and then moved to bars and saloons. Bolcom explained this in his article “Song and Dance”: When Anton Dvorak came to the United States and confronted the musical community here, he begged to differ; the most fruitful style would be derived from Negro melodies, he felt, not Indian ceremonial music. . . . The 97

Ibid, 90. Nancy Malitz, “Synthesizer,” Opera News, November 1992, 15-16. 99 Waldo, 180. 98

27

uproar against Dvorak’s statement was ubiquitous and intense; how could anyone take the music coming out of honky-tonks and whorehouses seriously? Unlike the Indian evocations of Farwell and Edward MacDowell, it wasn’t noble and it wasn’t nice. Ragtime was not what you wanted your marriageable daughter to play; prospective suitors might get the wrong idea (and you’d never get rid of them). . . . Try as we might to deal artistically with the American Indian heritage as part of the national psyche, the fact is that we have largely failed. . . . Dvorak’s pronouncement has turned out to be true; in fact, American music is simply not American music without black influence. 100 While Bolcom realized that the ragtime music was not considered “noble” by many people, it aroused his interest because it links a variety of musical styles, allowing them “to talk to each other in an interesting way.” 101 Once Bolcom discovered the treasures of ragtime, he played rags everywhere, even performing them in concert halls.102 Not only did he perform traditional rags, but in 1967, he also started to write his own new rags for piano, at first mostly based on Joplin’s classic rag style. A well-trained American composer, Bolcom noted that European composers were borrowing the ragtime style. It might be argued that the “serious” composers of Europe have been more able to draw from American sources than our own have. Ravel’s G Major Concerto draws heavily on Gershwin; Milhaud’s La Creation du monde is inspired by American jazz; Satie wrote a parody of an Irving Berlin tune to use in his ballet Parade; and Stravinsky was reportedly impelled by the look—only the look—of a page of printed American ragtime to write his Piano Rag-Music, the rag in L’Histoire du soldat, and other ragtime-flavored pieces. . . . 103 Certainly as an American composer, he should appreciate ragtime more than the Europeans, and it was only reasonable for Bolcom to go further in exploring ragtime music. 100

William Bolcom, “Song and Dance,” in The Lives of the Piano, ed. James R. Graines, (New York: Harper &Row, publishers, 1981), 157. 101 William Bolcom, quoted by Nancy Malitz, “Synthesizer,” 16. 102 Malitz, 15-16. 103 Bolcom, “Song and Dance,” 157.

28

Bolcom contacted musicians working in the field of ragtime and had numerous opportunities to meet and play ragtime with them. One of his earliest collaborators was William Albright (1944-1998), Bolcom’s colleague at the University of Michigan. They wrote rags together and also sent their individually composed new rags to each other “for their own amazement and amusement.” 104 Ragtime also connected Bolcom to James Herbert Blake (1883-1983), better known as “Eubie Blake.”105 Blake was a master of stride piano and the most influential living ragtime composer during the ragtime revival in the 1970s. From Blake, Bolcom learned stride style, which is reflected in his later piano rags. Blake also introduced Bolcom to the performance practice of ragtime; for example, Blake suggested that Bolcom keep a steady tempo by tapping his foot. Bolcom’s comment about this was “it works, by the way.” 106 In 1971, Bolcom made one of his most important early ragtime recordings, Heliotrope Bouquet Piano Rag (H71257), which includes rags written by several traditional rag composers as well as his own. Bolcom’s life, both musically and personally, began to blossom when he met the actress-singer Joan Morris, who came from Oregon; they joined together to perform a series of concerts and to record many albums of cabaret songs. Wild About Eubie, devoted to Eubie Blake’s music, is one of their most well-known albums. In 1975, Bolcom and Morris were married in Ann Arbor, where Bolcom had begun teaching composition at the University of Michigan. During the wedding ceremony, the bride’s

104

Waldo, 181. Feingold, 89. 106 Bolcom, “Song and Dance,” 145. 105

29

walk down the aisle was accompanied by 92-year-old Eubie Blake playing Mendelssohn’s Wedding March in ragtime. 107 By 1975, Bolcom had finished twenty piano rags. His confidence bolstered by his success at ragtime and improved personal life, Bolcom confidently returned to the field of serious music and spent most of his time writing more ambitious concert pieces and giving performances. Freely fusing popular musical elements into his serious music became one of the hallmarks of Bolcom’s musical style. One example of his compositions fusing various styles is his major orchestral and vocal work Songs of Innocence and Experience. Bolcom started this work as early as 1956, but did not finish it until 1982, by which time he was incorporating various music styles into his work. A setting of William Blake’s poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience is two and a half hours long and requires a large performance troupe, including an actor, eight solo singers, a chorus of nearly two hundred singers, some jazz and rock instrumentalists, a madrigal group, and a one hundred-piece orchestra. 108 Although it was overlooked by the Pulitzer Prize judges, Songs of Innocence and Experience won huge success immediately after its premiere in 1984, and is the work that established Bolcom as a leading American composer. The compositional approach in Bolcom’s later piano works differs in several aspects from his earlier piano works. Firstly, the new works use tonality differently. For example, Bolcom’s old set of Twelve Etudes, composed between 1959 and 1966, are dissonant and atonal. As Bolcom mentioned, they “were really very much in the Boulez

107 108

Feingold, 89. Leighton Kerner, “William Bolcom, Burning Bright,” Village Voice, February 3, 1987, 398.

30

tradition.” 109 Bolcom later composed the set of Twelve New Etudes between 1977 and 1986. Compared to the old set of etudes, these new etudes “are much more tonal.” 110 Secondly, Bolcom freely introduced a variety of musical styles and elements into his later works, especially American musical elements. For example, in Twelve New Etudes, etude No.2 Recitatif contains a blues style melody, and etude No.8, called Rag Infernal, combines ragtime’s rhythmic patterns with extremely demanding piano techniques. In taking about the American musical styles in one of his articles, Bolcom states: The landmark American composers are those who have found ways of integrating the different faces of our messy culture. There aren’t very many of them. . . . Perhaps efforts by such composers as Frederic Rzewski, William Albright (particularly in his rags), and myself could be considered a revival of that self-conscious Americanism, except that—I hope—there is a difference in the recent works: instead of amplifications and variations on hymn tunes, square-dance rhythms, ant the like, some recent music shows a real desire to invent an independently American melody and musical diction, woven on a deeper level into the musical fabric. . . . I am not a nationalistic composer or pianist or musician. By accident of birth, however, I am American, and for much of my life I have been fascinated by what that means. One can’t be bound by it, but one ignores it at one’s peril, for then the musician is fated to be nothing but a dispossessed European. Only by understanding it and accepting it can one transcend being American to make music that is truly universal. 111

As an “eclectic” American composer, Bolcom not only found a way to transform American ragtime into new art music but also established his own musical identity by absorbing ideas and influences from different kinds of music. In Bolcom’s view, a successful composer had to be able to merge all sorts of musical elements and styles into an organic whole, and an American composer’s compositions had to be deeply rooted in the styles of his nation. 109

Bolcom, quoted by Mark Wait, “Meet the Composer-Pianist: William Bolcom,” The Piano Quarterly 142 (summer 1988): 38. 110 Ibid. 111 Bolcom, “Song and Dance,” 158, 161.

31

CHAPTER 4 Bolcom Talks about Ragtime: An Interview with William Bolcom

This following interview took place at William Bolcom’s house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on May 16th, 2005. Yeung Yu: You wrote so many wonderful piano rags from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, which I think made a big contribution to the modern piano repertoire. As a classically trained composer, how do you think about the style of your ragtime, which seems to lie between classical and popular music? William Bolcom: There are a lot of pieces that are somewhere in the middle between classical and popular music. How about the members of Lyric Suite of Grieg, which have both popular and classical elements? Or, I think, the Chopin mazurkas, which are definitely popular dances, much more so than the waltzes, which always struck me as more urban. Yu: What interested you about Scott Joplin’s rags? And how did you start to write your own piano rags? Bolcom: I think what interested me about Scott Joplin and how I wanted to suddenly find myself writing rags was that Joplin brought together so many different elements of American music and married them in a real, organic way. . . .With Joplin, it is integrated; it is very deep; it is right in the inside of the piece. So that is why I got interested in writing them; they seem to be a simple fusion of elements, which is the hardest thing to do. That is why I was interested in them: I like the simplicity. I like the

32

fact that they are so totally integrated that they struck me as very important for the history of American music. We are still finding our national—I won’t say national style—but the kind of thing that a French composer or German composer or Italian composer takes for granted, and is still being formed for us, so that was so important to see that Joplin had done it. . . . Yu: Other than Joplin, whose music evoked your interest about national musical styles? Bolcom: Ernesto Nazareth, the great Brazilian, who—actually Milhaud, my teacher heard—played in Rio de Janeiro and who was very formative, and also a very strongly trained musician and was very prolific. He has something like eight hundred pieces to the thirty or forty that we have from Joplin. . . . Ernesto Nazareth was the foundation of Brazilian style, and in certain ways I think Scott Joplin has something of the same function for us. Yu: From Joplin’s classic rag style, how did you expand your rag styles? Bolcom: I was interested in dealing with it [Joplin’s style], and of course I did do different things. The very first ones I wanted to evoke Scott Joplin mostly. Then later I began to look at, again, the things I knew, which were James P. Johnson and Luckey Roberts. And they got interesting too, but you can see how the two were really very linked. The difference is that when Joplin went to New York from St. Louis, he had a problem, because the St. Louis and southern style was much simpler, and dance-like, and not so showy. The New York performers were people like Luckey and Eubie Blake. Eubie was a friend of mine, and we worked together quite a bit. I had very much to do with the history of that music that was an urban thing. . . .He [Joplin] was always the

33

country man; he came from a small town. Even in St. Louis, his background was less flashy. . . .You know the virtuoso James P. Johnson actually studied with Leopold Godowsky, which is amazing. That is whole different kind of technique, and Fats Waller further developed it. So the virtuosity was not Joplin’s thing. He was also physically unable; he began to have trouble with motor control, because of the syphilis. But what was important about him was he made these pieces that have such a deep fusion of elements. Yu: Did you experience some interesting things when you got deeply into the ragtime? Bolcom: What was interesting was that I didn’t know until about 1967, when I started writing these things and didn’t even know the ragtime underground, that there was this whole bunch of amateur pianists who got together and went to festivals every year, and played for each other. You would see this guy who worked on one piece all year, and his family up front, and he plays his one piece and everybody claps, and that was his project for the year. . . .I thought that was wonderful; we haven’t had an amateur style kind of history—it never would be the same way as, for example in Vienna, where you had a very active amateur culture. . . one quite professional almost to the point of criticizing each other. And the whole Viennese thing; for example, the big apartments had huge living rooms, and I was wondering why; well, because if you were a doctor, you would have weekends with your friends playing through Brahms chamber music, and your friends would be there to listen and critique as you played. Now that kind of amateur we have never had. But this is the closest I’ve ever found to that kind of amateurism. I found that was very interesting, and I was so glad to be there. Of course,

34

my rags are difficult—not everybody can play them—that is the trouble, but they like them, they like listening to them, and they appreciated it when I got up and I could play them! Yu: Besides your own rags, whose rags do you really like to play? Bolcom: Another person who’s very important—you’ve got to find his rags, because I think a lot of it had to do with us exchanging rags—and that person was William Albright (1944-1998). The Dream Rags for example are absolutely wonderful pieces, and published in a set of three, one of which we cooperated on. And I think we both had a lot to do with forming the whole curious number of people. Joshua Rifkin played Scott Joplin and made quite a career for a short time doing that. But we were composing them, so what we did do, Bill Albright and I, we played a joint concert in the early 1970’s in Minneapolis, the Walker Art Center, and this was the first time they used that auditorium as a concert hall. And we had two pianos and played all kinds of rags— we had a whole list of many rags we might play from—but the main thing was to give people an enormous list of rags that they could go find and start learning to play. There was a lot of it and that whole particular thing got going around that time—1969, 1970, 1971—and then I think Bill and I both moved on to other things. Yu: What have you done about ragtime after that period? Bolcom: The rags I wrote after that were essentially because of occasions like Max getting married. 112 I wrote Epithalamium, which is a term for a poem one writes— it is an ancient Greek word; a poem one writes to celebrate somebody’s marriage. So it

112

Max Morath (b.1926), Bolcom’s close friend, is one of the most important ragtime revivalists and well-known ragtime players. He got married with Diane Fay Skomars in May 24, 1993. Morath has recorded several American music albums with William Bolcom and Joan Morris.

35

was a rag, Epithalamium, that is what we call that. It sounded like that kind of fancy name that we’d find in the nineteenth century, so I like that. Of course I went through different styles; I think some of the grander things I’m just now arranging; for example, the Garden of Eden suite. I had already arranged the last two for two pianos—The Serpent’s Kiss and Through Eden’s Gates. . . . And I think the other two should also be made for four hands, two pianos, because I am sure a lot of people will want to do them. . . .While there was also something very surprising: Bill and I both discovered that we can write new pieces and people immediately related to them. Now ragtime was in places like Toronto, and the audiences liked them too. That was a nice surprise for us to bring all this difficult modern music, and everybody says that was very interesting. . . . Yu: Most of your rags were written before 1974; why did you write few rags after that time? Bolcom: Well, a couple of things happened. First of all, I thought I had done it. I thought I had basically finished them up, in this new collection of twenty-two. There are some more that I wrote, but I didn’t include them in the collections. Those in the collections are the ones I think are the best ones. Some of them were occasional pieces, like the Rag-Tango, which is not exactly a rag, and a piece I wrote for Tom Constanten, Fields of Flowers, which is a kind of suite-set piece, like a bit of Grieg because of its name. That was exploring outward, but I no longer felt I necessarily had to do them. I thought the point was made; we had had the Joplin collected works published; Treemonisha had been launched. In fact I had a lot of to do with that, because I found it through Rudi Blesh. . . .We were very good friends.

36

We have a recording coming out this year. Joan—my wife—and Max are going to be in a piece that I am writing for Milwaukee for 2007, so after all these years we are still very good friends, and working together. That is a long time; that is forty years almost I’ve been working with them. . . . From then on, there were the occasional pieces, and I’d go on to other things. . . . But I felt that in the meantime, the good had been done: Scott Joplin’s name was on the map; people began to appreciate how good that other group of people like James Scott, and Joseph Lamb were, and how important they were to our history. . . . Yu: As you mentioned, several major ragtime composers influenced your rag writing, such as Scott Joplin, James Scott, Eubie Blake, and Luckey Robert. Since you played and recorded so many pieces by George Gershwin, did his music influence your rags? Bolcom: Gershwin wrote real American folk songs as well as rags. I love Gershwin, and I have always been interested in him, and there is some part of me looks at music the same way . . . he has had an influence, but he is not a major influence, not on the rags. Yu: How about classical composers, such as Chopin and Schumann. Did they influence your rags? Bolcom: Chopin, and Schumann? Yes! Very much so! I think they probably influenced Joplin somewhat, at least through Gottschalk, who had certainly been influenced by them, because he was also connected with them in some kind of way, and also it was the general style of that period which they grew out of.

37

Yu: What is the reason you called some of your rags such as The Poltergeist “Rag Fantasy?” Is there any special meaning for it? Bolcom: That I think I probably got from William Albright. When you did a rag which was kind of extended, and was a little bit more than the regular simple four-strain, sixteen-bar piece, and it wasn’t meant to be danced to, it became a rag fantasy. The Poltergeist set of those three rags all have something to do with “ghosts.” I didn’t call them the “ghost” rags; they were called that by Paul Jacobs (1930—1983), who was my very close friend, and a wonderful pianist. . . . I wrote these three rags and recorded them. A poltergeist is a kind of spirit that goes in your house, that knocks dishes off shelves, and slams doors, and does things like that...just because they have this energy—that is the poltergeist. About the Graceful Ghost Rag: the use of the word “ghost” was meant to be the seventeenth-century word ghost, which meant the same thing as spirit. . . . My father had a very graceful spirit . . . I wrote the piece in memory of him. So I used the Graceful Ghost as the title because both of the words started with “G.” Strangely enough, more people have had trouble remembering that name correctly. I have a genius for picking names that are too close to something else, “Oh I love your ‘Grateful Goat!’” “Oh yeah! Thank you very much!” [Laughter] What can you do? Yu: I heard somebody played your Graceful Ghost Rag in a very slow tempo, and the mood was very melancholy, while I heard your recording, which doesn’t feel that way. It seems much happier and it wasn’t that slow. How do you think about this? Bolcom: IT IS A DANCE! It is a regular classic rag! There is a little difference in the trio section, the third section, in which I added a couple bars at the end for the

38

transition, which makes it really stand out as different. The rest of it is still very much of a standard rag, with a varied trio in the middle, which is something Eubie Blake always did. And I took that from his book. The whole idea of varying that trio was something I had seen that Eubie Blake, James P. Johnson, Luckey Robert, and other people did. They played the second time of the trio by making something different. And Eubie Blake did that all the time in his rags, if you look at the early ones, which are wonderful pieces! “Don’t Drag” means DON’T GO TOO SLOW! I mean, I think there is nothing worse. What happened is that people usually play ragtime very fast all the time. . . . So then people went to the other extreme. I remember one woman, she was playing Gladiolus Rag of Joplin with all this rubato. . . . And I said, “You can’t do that!” And she said, “Well, why not? It cries to be done that way.” And I said, “Yes, but you are making one cry, not because of my mood but because I am angry!” What is important about rags is that you’ve got to keep that other thing. It is also true about the mazurkas of Chopin; you’ve got to remember that it is first and foremost a dance! And it must feel like a dance; you should still feel as if you could dance to it. . . . You want to feel the physical dance in there somewhere or you are losing the point. . . . It should never feel like you couldn’t dance it! It may not be that simplest kind of cakewalk type of dance somebody could take, and that is why so many choreographers have done that. There are all these other things that apply, but it is still a dance, and that is very important! Yu: I heard two different versions of your recordings of Graceful Ghost Rag, one with swing rhythm for solo piano which was made in 1971 on the album of Heliotrope Bouquet Piano Rag (H-71257), the other one without swing which was recorded in the

39

late 1980s for violin and piano duo; which version represents your original ideas about the rhythm? Bolcom: Well, most of the time, I don’t like people to swing it. But once in awhile, you can swing very slightly. . . . I think one has to remember that there should be some variety in performance. Just these last few months, I had the luck of being able to play from the original edition of Francois Couperin’s suites on a very nice new harpsichord in Berkeley. And what was quite clear is that he expected you to play differently different times. And people always talk about the notes inégale, the unequal notes. Most people play them equally unequal all the time. The point is that they are varied all the time. [As a composer] It is a loss if sometimes you put more dots [rhythms on the score] and sometime you don’t. It depends on taste, and the same is true with ragtime. You know sometimes, you like the kind of swing feeling, but I don’t like playing the “du-ba, du-ba” like triplets all the time—that is flat, and that has no spring to it. The same as true with Couperin; he would say sometimes, “Don’t play this inégale! Play them all straight!” While other times he expected you to do it to a certain extent, and slow a little bit more, but not mechanically. Yu: The New York stride style is defined as an early jazz solo piano style in the New Grove Dictionary, and many of your rags are based on that style. Do you think the stride style was the bridge between ragtime and jazz? Bolcom: The stride style was maybe on the way from ragtime to jazz, but not necessarily. The fact is that all the styles were all around all the time, pretty much and, they were all being developed. Boogie-Woogie for example, everybody talks about in the 1930s.While it had existed already in the early part of the century, only certain people

40

played it, and they called it the “sixteenth.” It just got renamed “Boogie-Woogie” and it became very popular at the end of the 1930s and the early part of the 1940s . . . so all these things were concurrent; as ragtime, march, tango, and so on. You know in the case of Nazareth, when he wrote tango, he meant you could dance it as a tango. When he wrote a “chôro,” a form he invented which is like the rag-fantasies that Bill and I used to write, it was a freer thing. It was meant to be a little showier and not necessarily to be danced. . . . I think that James P. Johnson, certainly, by the time he talked about stride, people normally put that into jazz. He talked about Fats Waller, for example, and MacDonald Lambert, but what they really were was extended ragtime. And so with Eubie Blake, he thought anything which involved syncopation was all ragtime, even jazz. He thought even that there were things he could find in the pieces of Franz Liszt and Robert Schumann which were like ragtime. Yu: Rag-Tango has a very large form. How did you plan the form when you wrote this piece? Bolcom: If you look at Nazareth’s pieces, they have these long strains one after another, sometimes five or six strains in the same piece, and it was something to do with that. What is so strange is this: before I got to know Nazareth as well as all of that, I wrote this piece in the form of a Nazareth tango. It is much more that, but it has rag elements. . . . In the Nazareth tango, there are the same ragged rhythms as you will find in Scott Joplin or anybody. There was a terrific explosion of piano music all about the same time between about 1890 and about the First World War, and it all has certain elements in common. . . .

41

In tangos, you will have maybe six or seven different choruses, and some of them are very long. In a Nazareth piece, you will make a whole circle, and you will go from A-B-C-D-E-F to E-D-C-B and A choruses again. There is one I know that does that, and there are things like that which were much more extended. But they are still sixteen bars per strain or chorus or dance or what ever you want to call them depending on where they came from. But it is something that was very common. Yu: Dream Shadows seems to be a swing piece, but you didn’t indicate that it should be played in swing or straight; which way do you like it to be interpreted? Bolcom: Dream Shadows is more swinging I think, because of the style which it is a little bit closer to. But you can also do it straight; it is up to you. And that is what’s nice about these things, it depends on, sometimes . . . there are parts you want to swing a little more and there are parts you can do straight; one should be flexible with these things. Yu: Some of your rags bear the subtitles such as “two step” or “cakewalk.” How do these subtitles relate to the rags? Bolcom: The titles like “two step” and “cake walk” are all dances which were danced to rags. “Two step” was one of the dances; later it got replaced by the “one step” in the 1920s, which was the beginning of a faster rhythm. When you got to Eubie, you have these dances—I Am Just Wild about Mary—that is a one step. . . . And there were definitely many other dances; ones with names like “turkey trot,” “chicken scratch” and “buzzard lope.” The only one of those that we had for many years after that was “foxtrot.” You will see a lot of popular music in the 1920s and 1930s was the foxtrot, because that became the dance. Most people played for dances; jazz played for dances.

42

People didn’t sit down in the concert hall and do that. The idea of sitting down and just listening to jazz was something that came up in the 1950s. When Duke Ellington, or Artie Charles, or all those people toured around United States—Woody Herman, all those Big Band famous people, Paul Whitney—they played mostly for dances. And you sat there, if you wanted to listen to them. But in the mean time, you might be there with your “sweetie” listening to these wonderful jazz pieces and dancing to them. It was much later in the 1950s or early 1960s that the idea of going to a jazz club and just listening would be common. And then it became a kind of—I am afraid in certain ways a little holy, and that always bothered me, just like someone was going to the temple of art, you know. I remember I went to see Thelonious Monk, who had become very amused at the whole thing, and I could see him having fun with these people sitting there looking testy. . . . So you have to remember these things which are very important: the dance has to be in there, and you can’t forget to dance to those pieces. . . . Yu: I noticed that in your rags, the dynamic markings were very carefully planned, especially the uses of different levels of pianissimo. Why are you in favor of pianissimo? Bolcom: The dynamic contrasts are very important to me. One of the days I won’t forget was in a class with Darius Milhaud. And one of my friends . . . was sitting at the piano, and Milhaud said, “I want you to play some Chopin Mazurkas for us.” When he started playing, Milhaud said, “Be sure—exaggerate the dynamics!” . . . . So to get people to change the dynamics is something very important. Yu: Do you think the ragtime influenced your later composing?

43

Bolcom: I suppose, but I don’t know what the influence is, and I don’t know exactly how. I know my interest also in American popular music has a lot to do with my vocal music. I began to take it seriously, and I thought it should be done right. That is our patrimony; it is the foundation of what makes us Americans; and it is universal in a way. . . . So I decided that was important for me to have ragtime up there as piano music which has no parallel to it.

44

CHAPTER 5 A Style Analysis of William Bolcom’s Complete Rags for Piano

William Bolcom: Complete Rags for Piano consists of twenty-two rags written by Bolcom between the years of 1967 and 1993. According to Bolcom, these rags do not include all the rags that he composed during that period; instead, he chose only the twenty-two rags which represented the highest quality of his ragtime-writing skill. These rags are also Bolcom’s favorite rags, which he believes contain more spirit than the others. 113 In this research, Bolcom’s twenty-two rags are divided into three large groups based on their writing period and their general styles. The first group of rags, which consists of Bolcom’s seven earliest rags, was composed during 1967 and 1968. These rags include Three Classic Rags, Three Popular Rags and California Porcupine Rag, which represent Bolcom’s early experiments in the genre. They mainly follow the musical tradition begun by the classical rag styles of Scott Joplin, Louis Chauvin, and James Scott, and also show similarities to the animal-dance oriented popular rag style of the 1910s. A detailed analysis of these seven rags demonstrates that Bolcom’s early rags contain many common features, such as shorter lengths and less complex harmonies, rhythms, and musical textures than his later rags. The second group of Bolcom’s rags is comprised of twelve rags written between 1969 and 1971. This is the largest number of rags that Bolcom wrote in a short period of time, so they represent the composer’s peak period of producing ragtime music. Compared to Bolcom’s early rag style, these rags have more features common to the 113

William Bolcom, Interview by Yeung Yu, May 18, 2005, Michigan, Ann Arbor.

45

stride style, which was partially due to Bolcom’s firm friendship at the time with the stride style master Eubie Blake. Blake’s stride style became a major influence on Bolcom’s composing. The most obvious examples of stride-style oriented rags composed by Bolcom in this period are Eubie’s Luckey Day and Knight Hubert, in which Bolcom borrows many techniques from Blake. The second group of rags also includes several of Bolcom’s most famous rags; Graceful Ghost Rag from the suite Three Ghost Rags stands out as one of Bolcom’s most popular piano works ever. Through a detailed analysis of these twelve rags, we can see that Bolcom’s musical complexity increased in all aspects of form, rhythm, harmony, musical texture, and virtuosic piano techniques. Some rags in this group even went far beyond traditional ragtime style, such as The Serpent’s Kiss in the suite Garden of Eden. In The Serpent’s Kiss, Bolcom used many new twentiethcentury compositional idioms, such as sharp dissonances, atonal passages, and tone clusters. The third group of rags includes three rags which Bolcom wrote after 1974. The three rags—Raggin’ Rudi, Field of Flowers, and Epithalamium—are all dedicated to Bolcom’s close friends. Raggin’ Rudi and Epithalamium are chiefly based on classic rag style, while Field of Flowers has more in common with South American dance style. Compared to Bolcom’s group of rags from the early 1970’s, these three rags are less complex in their uses of form, rhythm, harmony etc., and musical simplicity again becomes the dominant element in Bolcom’s rags.

46

Three Classic Rags Glad Rag

The pieces in Three Classic Rags were composed in 1967. They represent Bolcom’s early rag style, which drew heavily on the influences of Scott Joplin, Louis Chauvin, and James Scott’s ragtime styles. Glad Rag is the first of the Three Classic Rags. Bolcom acknowledges Joplin in particular as an inspiration: “Glad Rag, actually my very first rag, was inspired by Treemonisha and actually recalled that opera in a transitional passage.” 114 In Glad Rag, Joplin’s influences are reflected mainly through Bolcom’s use of syncopated rhythms and simple diatonic harmonies. Bolcom also infused many of his own new ideas into the piece. Although under the strong influences of classic ragtime style, the form and the tonal plan of Glad Rag demonstrate some unusual features. First, by using a Da Capo form, Introduction-A-BB-Transition-CC-DD-Introduction-A-BB, Glad Rag comprises four different themes and an introduction, which repeats after the D strain. The Da Capo form is rarely used in traditional rags; it is seen more often in seventeenth-century operas. Secondly, after the A and B strains set up the tonic key of the piece, which is E-flat major, the C and D strains surprisingly move to D major, which is a half-step modulation and very unusual in ragtime (Ex. 1.1).

114

William Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano. (E.B. Marks Music Co., Hal. Leonard Corporation, 1999).

47

Ex. 1.1 The formal diagram of Glad Rag.

Joplin’s influence can be seen at the very beginning of this piece in Bolcom’s use of harmony and rhythm. After a regular four-bar introduction, the A strain starts with a tied syncopated melody in the right hand against the left hand’s march-style alternation of bass notes and chords, which resembles Joplin’s rag style (Ex. 1.2a, 1.2b). For example, the left hand’s harmonic progression of II-V-I is very similar to the progression in Joplin’s Heliotrope Bouquet (Ex.1.2c).

Ex.1.2a Glad Rag, mm. 1-4. The introduction.

48

Ex. 1.2b Glad Rag, mm.5-8. The beginning of the A strain.

Ex. 1.2c Heliotrope Bouquet by Joplin and Chauvin, mm. 5-8.

The B strain features tied syncopations in both hands (Ex. 1.3a). Subsequently, a five-measure transition, which is very chromatic in both the right-hand melody and the left-hand harmonic progression, links the B strain to the C strain, the trio section of the piece (Ex. 1.3b). The tonality moves from E-flat major to D major.

Ex. 1.3a Glad Rag, mm. 21-24. The beginning of the B strain.

49

Ex.1.3b Glad Rag, mm. 30-34. The transition.

Like Joplin’s rag, the C strain has continuous tied syncopations in the right hand against the left hand “oom-pah” accompaniment patterns (Ex.1.4a), while the D strain is more complex in use of rhythm. Not only does the left hand accompaniment contain tied syncopations which break the regular accompaniment patterns, but also there are sudden changes of meters such as shifts from 2/4 to 3/8 to 5/16, which interrupt the regular down beats and up beats of the patterns (Ex. 1.4b).

Ex. 1.4a Glad Rag, mm. 35-38. The beginning of the C strain.

50

Ex.1.4b Glad Rag, mm. 51-58. The D strain.

As Bolcom’s first piano rag, Glad Rag demonstrates two important aspects of his compositional style. One is that Bolcom’s rags represent the continuation of traditional ragtime style in their use of the typical features of traditional rags. Another aspect is Bolcom’s development of a new compositional approach in his rags, which feature unusual forms, rhythms, and harmonies. The two aspects combine in Bolcom’s later piano rags and constitute the uniqueness of Bolcom’s ragtime style.

Epitaph for Louis Chauvin

Epitaph for Louis Chauvin is the second of the Three Classic Rags. Bolcom states that the piece “evokes the Gallic spirit of Chauvin’s only published rag ‘Heliotrope

51

Bouquet.’” 115 Epitaph for Louis Chauvin resembles the classic ragtime style of Chauvin and Joplin in several aspects, including its simple form, the lyricism of the melody, and the simple diatonic harmonies, but it also contains some stride features such as the use of blue notes. Using a “Slow Drag Tempo, stately, with a slight swing,” Epitaph for Louis Chauvin consists of three different themes in the form of AA-BB-A-CC-A, which resembles a rondo form. A special feature of this piece is that all of the strains stay in the same key, E major; even the C strain is not in the subdominant key (Ex. 2.1).

Ex. 2.1 The formal diagram of Epitaph for Louis Chauvin.

Bolcom introduces the musical lyricism immediately at the beginning of the piece. The A strain presents a lyrical blues-style melody in the right hand, which is accompanied by the left hand’s “oom-pah” patterns. The melodic line is based on a pentatonic scale, in which the highest point is a blue note, the G natural, the lower third of the E major scale (Ex.2.2).

115

Ibid.

52

Ex. 2.2 Epitaph for Louis Chauvin, mm 1-4. The beginning of the A strain.

The B strain features a harmonic progression of II-V-I-III-flat III-II in the bass line, which resembles the bass-line pattern in Heliotrope Bouquet by Chauvin (Ex.2.3a.and Ex.2.3b).

Ex.2.3a Epitaph for Louis Chauvin, mm. 10-12. The beginning of the B strain.

Ex.2.3b Heliotrope Bouquet by Chauvin and Joplin, mm. 5-8. The harmonic pattern of the A strain.

53

In the C strain of Epitaph for Louis Chauvin, Bolcom uses a long cycle of fifths, which continues the key modulation and leads the tonality to several distant keys, such as E-flat major in the middle part of the strain; this is very unusual in traditional rags (Ex.2.4) .

Ex.2.4 Epitaph for Louis Chauvin, mm.35-42. The cycle of fifths in the C strain.

Epitaph for Louis Chauvin shows many influences of classic rag style, but the use of blue notes and swing rhythm in this piece also represents the features of stride style. The unusually long cycles of fifths in the harmonic progressions in this piece demonstrate Bolcom’s unique compositional technique.

54

Incineratorag

Bolcom believes that Incineratorag is “probably closest to standard rag form” of the pieces in Three Classic Rags. 116 It contains a four-bar introduction and four different themes, which create the formal structure of Introduction-AA-BB-CC’-DD. The pattern of tonalities in Incineratorag resembles that of many traditional classic rags: the A and B strains are in the key of A-flat major, and the C and D strains stay in the subdominant key, D-flat major (Ex. 3.1).

Ex. 3.1 The formal diagram of Incineratorag.

In order to encourage performers to interpret this piece in the authentic way of playing a classic rag, Bolcom indicates at the very beginning of the piece, “For Heaven’s sake, not too fast!” The introduction of Incineratorag features the parallel motion figure of the two hands, which is very similar to the opening figure in Joplin’s Easy Winners (Ex.3.2a and 3.2b). The syncopated right-hand melody and left hand “oom-pah” accompaniment patterns comprise the basic feature of the A strain (Ex. 3.2a).

116

Ibid.

55

Ex. 3.2a. Incineratorag, mm. 1-9.

Ex. 3.2b The Easy Winners by Joplin, mm. 1-4.

The use of a syncopated right-hand melody accompanied by “oom-pah” patterns in the left hand continues throughout the B strain; the texture changes in the C strain,

56

where the left hand mainly carries a single bass line while the right hand has two voices which switch positions during the repeat of the theme (Ex. 3.3a, 3.3b, and 3.3c).

Ex. 3.3a. Incineratorag, mm. 21-26. The beginning of the B strain.

Ex. 3.3b. Incineratorag, mm. 39-43. The beginning of the C strain.

57

Ex. 3.3c. Incineratorag, mm.55-59. The repeating of the C strain theme.

The D strain of Incineratorag demonstrates changing levels of pianissimos, an unusual phenomenon found in some of Bolcom’s piano rags but not found in traditional rags (Ex. 3.4).

Ex. 3.4 Incineratorag, mm. 71-76. The beginning of the D strain.

58

In general, Incineratorag includes many features of classic rag style. On the other hand, in its sophisticated harmonies, dynamics, and counterpoint techniques, Incineratorag represents Bolcom’s unique compositional crafting of ragtime.

Three Popular Rags Seabiscuits

Three Popular Rags, which is made up of Seabiscuits Rag, Tabby Cat Walk, and Last Rag, was composed between 1967 and 1968. Although they are still strongly influenced by classic rag style, these three rags represent some very different approaches compared to Three Classic Rags. Bolcom confesses that Seabiscuits Rag “feels to me like a circa-1912 big-city novelty rag.” 117 One of the most obvious characteristics of this rag is the use of dotted rhythms and triplets. The time signature of Seabiscuits Rag, which is 2/2 time, also differs from the 2/4 time of classic rags. However, the piece still uses a traditional formal scheme: Introduction-AA-BB-A-CC-DD-Coda. The tonal plan of Seabiscuits Rag is also very predictable. The A and B strains are in the key of G-flat major, and the C and D strains are in the subdominant key, C-flat major (Ex. 4.1)

117

Ibid.

59

Ex. 4.1 The formal diagram of Seabiscuits Rag.

The first eight measures of the piece can be regarded as a long introduction, featuring continuous dotted rhythms and triplets (Ex.4.2a). The reason this passage is considered the introduction is that the tonality does not settle into the tonic key in this section until the ninth measure of the piece, where the “real” A strain starts. In contrast to the unsyncopated introduction, the A strain primarily contains classic rag style syncopations combined with some slightly dotted rhythms (Ex. 4.2b).

Ex. 4.2a Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 1-2. The introduction.

60

Ex. 4.2b Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 9-11. The beginning of the A strain.

The B strain features cakewalk syncopations in the right hand against parallel descending octaves in the left hand. The use of continuous parallel octaves, or walking bass, is a common phenomenon found more often in New York stride pieces 118 (Ex. 4.3).

Ex. 4.3 Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 26-30. The beginning of the B strain.

The C strain and the D strain are similar in texture. Both strains contain tied syncopations and dotted rhythms. The C strain begins with the parallel ascending motion 118

John Valerio, Stride & Swing Piano (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003), 28, 36.

61

of octaves, fourths, and fifths at the beginning, while the D strain starts with the descending motion of octaves in the right hand against the contrary motion of octaves in the left hand (Ex. 4.4a and 4.4b).

Ex. 4.4a Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 59-61. The beginning of the C strain.

Ex. 4.4b Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 76-79. The beginning of the D strain.

In the coda, material from the introduction returns, and it highlights dotted rhythms and triplets (Ex. 4.5). Ex. 4.5 Seabiscuits Rag, mm. 93-96. The Coda.

62

Bolcom regards Seabiscuits Rag as a novelty rag. This piece contains various types of rhythms in which the dotted rhythms and triplets significantly distinguish this rag’s style from classic rag style.

Tabby Cat Walk In style, Tabby Cat Walk is similar to Seabiscuits Rag. It also features dotted rhythms. However, dotted rhythms appear more often in the left hand rather than in the right hand in this piece. Tabby Cat Walk uses a traditional ragtime form of AA-BB-ACC-DD-A, which resembles a rondo form. In terms of tonality, all strains are in the tonic key, which is E-flat major, except the C strain, which is in the subdominant key of A-flat major. (Ex. 5.1).

Ex. 5.1 The formal diagram of Tabby Cat Walk.

63

Starting with the dotted rhythms in both hands, the A strain presents a typical animal dance style. The cakewalk-style syncopation remains in the top voice of the right hand; however, it is overwhelmed by the left hand’s dotted rhythm patterns (Ex. 5.2). Ex. 5.2 Tabby Cat Walk, mm. 1-4. The beginning of the A strain.

Combinations of tied syncopations and dotted rhythms in both hands dominate the B strain. Similar musical texture continues throughout the C and D strains (Ex. 5.3a, 5.3b, and 5.3c).

Ex. 5.3a Tabby Cat Walk, mm. 18-20. The beginning of the B strain.

Ex. 5.3b Tabby Cat Walk, mm. 36-38. The beginning of the C strain.

64

Ex. 5.3c Tabby Cat Walk, mm. 53-58. The beginning of the D strain.

The last returning A strain is very noteworthy, as Bolcom plays to the expectations of the audience with Haydn-style humor, similar to that found in Joseph Haydn’s string quartets. Some measures are eliminated from the original long phrases, and the eliminated parts are replaced by long rests which usually last for two to three measures. The effect is that the music suddenly stops for no reason, and then after a long silence, it starts again. The audience can never anticipate the real ending of the piece (Ex. 5.4). Ex. 5.4 Tabby Cat Walk, mm. 69-75. The beginning of the last returning A strain.

65

In general, the rhythm, harmony, and form in Tabby Cat Walk all reflect the influences of typical 1910’s ragtime style, but in the last strain, Bolcom gives the audience unexpected surprises beyond the typical aspects of traditional ragtime.

Last Rag

Last Rag is the third piece in Three Popular Rags; it displays a different musical style from the first two rags by presenting more features of classic rag style rather than animal-dance oriented rag style. Last Rag contains a simpler form, a slower tempo, and straight rhythms. It is reminiscent of the romantic styles of Schumann and Chopin in its lyrical melodic line and sophisticated contrapuntal techniques. Last Rag uses a short ragtime form of A-BB-A-CC-B, in which there is no D strain after the C strain. This shorter form often appears in the early classic rags of the 1890s. In Last Rag, the three different strains contrast in tonality. The A strain is in the key of B minor, a seldom-used key in classic rags. The B strain moves to D major, the relative major key, and then the C strain goes to G major, the subdominant key of D major. At the end of the piece, the B strain returns completely to D major (Ex 6.1).

Ex. 6.1 The formal diagram of Last Rag.

66

Starting with the slow dance tempo, the romantic lyricism of the piece appears immediately in the opening measures of the A strain, in which the right hand has a legato and cantabile melodic line combined with classic rag style syncopations and accompanied by steady march tempo “oom-pah” accompaniment patterns in the left hand (Ex. 6.2).

Ex. 6.2 Last Rag, mm. 1-8. The beginning of the A strain.

The B strain continues the classic rag style syncopations; however, the tonality changes to D major, which brings brighter tonal color to this strain. Meanwhile, the lefthand bass line has a harmonic progression of II-V-I-III-flat III-II, which is very similar to the harmonic progression found in Heliotrope Rag by Chauvin and Joplin (Ex. 6.3a, and 6.3b).

67

Ex. 6.3a Last Rag, mm. 17-19. The beginning of the B strain.

Ex. 6.3b Heliotrope Rag by Chauvin and Joplin, mm. 5-8.

In the C strain, which is the trio, the left hand carries another lyrical melodic line which responds to the right hand’s main theme. The contrapuntal texture recalls the style of many romantic pieces, such as Remembrance by Schumann and Prelude Op. 28, No. 6 by Chopin (Ex. 6.4a, 6.4b, and 6.4c).

Ex. 6.4a Last Rag, mm. 52-54. The beginning of the C strain.

68

Ex. 6.4b Remembrance by Schumann, mm. 1-3.

Ex. 6.4c Prelude Op. 28, No. 6 by Chopin, mm.1-4.

Last Rag possesses more features of nineteenth-century romantic style than Bolcom’s other early rags. Romantic features continuously evolved in Bolcom’s later rags, becoming one of the most charming aspects of Bolcom’s rag style.

69

California Porcupine Rag

Bolcom perceives California Porcupine Rag as a challenging piece in reply to one of William Albright’s “more outrageous and challenging rags.” 119 The piece shows Bolcom’s newly developed approach to ragtime, of which three unusual features are quite notable. First, in terms of form, the traditional four-theme form is expanded into five themes in California Porcupine Rag, in which three themes are exposed before the real trio section comes, instead of the traditional two themes. Secondly, the piece has an unusual tonal plan. It starts in the key of C major, but moves to a distant key—D-flat major—in the last two strains, and ends in the new key. Thirdly, the use of harmonies in California Porcupine Rag is not traditional; there are sudden instances of unexpected harmonies from other keys in some sections of the piece. The form of the piece can be described as Introduction-AA-BB-CC-TransitionDD-EE-Coda, in which the A and C strains are in the key of C major, the B strain is in E minor, and the D and E strains stay in the key of D-flat major and constitute the real trio section (Ex. 7.1).

119

Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano.

70

Ex. 7.1 The formal diagram of California Porcupine Rag.

The four-bar introduction starts this piece in a rather traditional way by establishing the tonality clearly in C major and using classic rag syncopations. In the A strain, however, the melody contains lots of appoggiaturas or non-chord tones, which blur the tonal center of the strain (Ex. 7.2a). Even more unusually, in the middle section of the strain, the tonality further moves into unexpected keys by using harmonies such as the A-flat dominant seventh chord. Meanwhile, the rhythms become more complex: when the sixteenth notes in the right hand break into triplets, the left hand also displays syncopated rhythms (7.2b).

71

Ex. 7.2a California Porcupine Rag, mm. 1-7. The introduction and the beginning of the A strain.

Ex.7.2b California Porcupine Rag, mm.12-15. The middle section of the A strain.

The B strain moves into a minor key, E minor, and functions as a contrast in tonality to the A strain. Because of its short length, the B strain is more like an extra section inserted between the regular A and B strains. The use of augmented chords in this strain creates a very dissonant sound effect (Ex.7.3).

72

Ex. 7.3 California Porcupine Rag, mm. 23-27. The beginning of the B strain.

The C strain returns to the key of C major, but due to this tonality it sounds more like a traditional B strain. The sudden appearance of the D-flat dominant seventh chords disrupt the tonality of the C major key, and also foreshadow the new tonality of the next strain (Ex. 7.4)

Ex. 7.4 California Porcupine Rag, mm. 32-35. The beginning of the C strain.

After the C strain, the material from the introduction returns and functions as a transition to the next strain. The four-measure introduction is expanded to sixteen measures, almost the length of a whole strain. It first appears in C major, then suddenly shifts to the new key, D-flat major (Ex.7.5).

73

Ex. 7.5 California Porcupine Rag, mm. 49-61. The transition.

The tonality of the D strain marks the beginning of the trio section of the piece. The D strain features a long sequence in which the right hand repeats the same syncopated rhythmic pattern for seven measures without any changes, while the left hand has a long bass line in a chromatic descending motion (Ex. 7.6).

74

Ex. 7.6 California Porcupine Rag, mm.65-73. From the transition to the beginning of the D strain.

To a performer, the most challenging part of this piece is the last strain, the E strain. The descending sixteenth-note patterns of the inner voices require both accuracy and extreme control of the fingers. Meanwhile, the contrary motion figures are very difficult technically, like Chopin’s etudes (Ex. 7.7).

75

Ex. 7.7 California Porcupine Rag, mm. 82-85. The beginning of the E strain.

The coda of this piece contains a ritardando and a plagal cadence, which is very similar to the endings of Romantic character pieces by Chopin (Ex. 7.8).

Ex. 7.8 California Porcupine Rag, mm. 99-103. The coda.

In its harmonies, form, rhythms, and texture, California Porcupine Rag reaches a new level of complexity, which indicates Bolcom’s mastery of the traditional ragtime form and his exploration of new possibilities in the genre.

76

Eubie’s Luckey Day

Eubie’s Luckey Day was composed in 1969 and dedicated to Eubie Blake. It is one of the most virtuosic of Bolcom’s twenty-two rags. The title of the piece suggests that it was inspired by two of the most prominent traditional stride pianist-composers, Eubie Blake and Luckey Robert. Bolcom calls this piece “a supercharged evocation of Eubie’s Charleston Rag and Luckey Roberts’ great stride pieces.” 120 Like traditional stride style pieces, Eubie’s Luckey Day has a faster tempo, dotted and swing rhythms, blue notes, and brilliant improvisational passages. Meanwhile, it shows the strong influence of the nineteenth-century romanticism of Chopin. In addition, Bolcom applied new twentieth-century compositional idioms to this piece. The formal structure and tonal plan of Eubie’s Luckey Day are more complex than those of Bolcom’s earliest rags: the piece contains six different themes or groups of materials and more than four different tonalities. The form of the piece is IntroductionAA-BB-A-Transition-C-C’-D-D’-E-FF-E’-C-C’-Coda. The A and B strains are based on the key of B-flat major; the C strain moves to the subdominant key, E-flat major; the D and E strains move further to the key of A-flat major; the F strain primarily stays in the key of C minor; and the E’ strain is regarded as atonal, because it does not show any clear tonal center (Ex. 8.1).

120

Ibid.

77

Ex. 8.1. The formal diagram of Eubie’s Luckey Day.

At the very beginning of Eubie’s Luckey Day, Bolcom suggests using the “Tempo of Eubie Blake’s Charleston Rag,” which reflects the close relationship between the two pieces. Moreover, the introductions to Eubie’s Luckey Day and Charleston Rag reveal their similarities: both pieces start with a three-note motive in ascending motion, both

78

pieces begin with parallel-motion passages of the right hand and the left hand, and both introductions end with two dominant seventh chords an octave apart (Ex.8.2a and 8.2b). Ex. 8.2a. Eubie’s Luckey Day, mm.1-5. The introduction.

Ex. 8.2b. Charleston Rag by Blake, mm.1-9. The introduction.

79

Typical stride style rhythms and harmonies appear in the A strain of Eubie’s Luckey Day. The triplets and the dotted rhythms in the right-hand melody create a typical swing feeling which is supported by the jazzy harmonic progressions and the bass line of the left hand: ii Ø7-V7-V7sub.-I6-V7#9/ii-ii Ø7 (Ex.8.3).

Ex. 8.3 Eubie’s Luckey Day, mm.6-10. The beginning of the A strain.

In the second half of the B strain, the use of blue notes and blues-style “Boogie Woogie” patterns reflects another influence of stride style. The right-hand melody features the blue note, C sharp, which is the flat third of B-flat major. The C sharp acts as a grace note which slides to the next D, the natural third of the tonality. The left hand contains the Boogie Woogie patterns, which consist of the alternating of perfect fifths and major sixths (Ex8.4a and 8.4b).

80

Ex. 8.4a Eubie’s Luckey Day, mm.32-34. The blue notes in the B strain.

Ex. 8.4b the typical Boogie Woogie pattern.

A Chopin-style melodic line can be found in the D strain. Meanwhile, the chordal progressions, which contain no syncopations for six measures, are reminiscent of Charleston Rag by Blake (Ex.8.5a, 8.5b, and 8.5c).

Ex. 8.5a Eubie’s Luckey Day, mm.93-98.

81

Ex. 8.5b Chopin Nocturne in A flat major, Op. 32, no.2. mm1-4.

Ex. 8.5c Charleston Rag by Blake, m137-141.

Bolcom also exploits some twentieth-century compositional techniques in Eubie’s Luckey Day. For example, the E’ strain is a “freak out” section, built mostly on atonal passages. Although the first half of the strain features emphasized sffz G notes in the bass line, the entire sixteen-measure strain does not suggest any clear tonality. Meanwhile, the improvisational sequential phrases in the strain reflect the traits of stride style, including fast passages with triplets (Ex.8.6).

Ex. 8.6a Eubie’s Luckey Day, mm.141-148. “freak out.” 82

Ex. 8.6b. Charleston Rag by Blake, mm.125-127.

The stride style improvisational passages reappear in the coda. Right before the end of the piece, a brilliant ascending-motion running phrase recalls the virtuoso style of stride pieces (Ex.8.7).

Ex. 8.7 Eubie’s Luckey Day. mm.169-172. 83

Eubie’s Luckey Day combines a variety of musical styles, including stride style, nineteenth-century romanticism, and twentieth-century compositional idioms. The combination of styles in this piece is significantly different from the styles of Bolcom’s early rags written in 1967 and 1968, and marks a great expansion of Bolcom’s ragtime style as it moved further from classic ragtime style.

The Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden is a set of four piano rags which Bolcom completed in 1969. The four rags, which include Old Adam, The Eternal Feminine, The Serpent’s Kiss, and Through Eden’s Gates, illustrate a complete biblical story from Genesis. Bolcom describes the four pieces as such: The four rags that make up the suite The Garden of Eden tell the story of the Fall in ragtime. Old Adam, a “chicken scratch” recalling the animal dances of the

84

1900’s, contains a reminiscence of Chris Smith’s teens hit “Ballin’ the Jack.” The Eternal Feminine has a harmonically devious third strain that calls up the Mystery of Woman. Eubie particularly liked the rag fantasia The Serpent’s Kiss; the final rag in the set, Through Eden’s Gates, conjures the image of Adam and Eve calmly cakewalking their way out of Paradise. 121

Thus the four rags of The Garden of Eden present a diversity of musical styles which include influences from classic ragtime style, animal dance style, and stride style. Moreover, in The Serpent’s Kiss, Bolcom uses the rag fantasy form, which involves many contemporary compositional idioms.

Old Adam

Old Adam is a “chicken scratch” in which the main feature is the continuous use of dotted rhythms. The chicken scratch, along with the fox trot and turkey trot, were popular social dances in the early twentieth century. 122 In Old Adam, Bolcom borrows many musical ideas from Ballin’ the Jack by Chris Smith. Ballin’ the Jack is a fox trot which also has dotted rhythms. Besides the influence of animal dance features, Old Adam utilizes some characteristics from stride style: for example, the use of blue notes and the “call and respond” technique. Written in a traditional ragtime formal structure of AA-B-A-B-C-C’-DD, Old Adam includes four different themes. The A and B strains constitute the first half of the piece, which is centered in D-flat major, and the C and D themes form the second half of the piece, the trio, which mainly stays in the subdominant key, G-flat major. Most of the 121

Ibid. The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (London Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2001), s.v. “Foxtrot,” by Pauline Norton. 122

85

strains in this piece contain either eight or sixteen measures, except the B strain, which is irregular and has ten measures (Ex. 9.1).

Ex. 9.1 The formal diagram of Old Adam.

Bolcom introduces the continuous dotted rhythms at the very beginning of the piece. The dotted rhythmic patterns in the right hand are accompanied by the left hand’s march-style “oom-pah” accompaniment patterns, which are very similar to the rhythmic patterns in the middle section of Ballin’ the Jack (Ex. 9.2a and Ex.9.2b)

Ex. 9.2a Old Adam, mm.1-2. The dotted rhythm.

Ex. 9.2b Ballin’ the Jack by Chris Smith, mm.38-40. 86

The use of blue notes, which can be found in both the A and B strains, reflects the influence of stride style. For example, the C flat in the right hand in the A strain is a blue note, the flat seventh of D-flat major (Ex. 9.2a); the E and the B flat in the B strain are the flat fifth and the flat third of B-flat major, which are also blue notes, (Ex. 9.3)

Ex. 9.3 Old Adam, mm.10-13. The blue notes in the B strain.

The C strain features parallel syncopations in both hands, which is closer in style to classic rags. This strain has a Scherzando character which indicates the innocent nature of Adam (Ex.9.4).

Ex. 9.4 Old Adam, mm. 38-40. The beginning of the C strain.

87

The “call and response” technique is a feature of stride style and emerges in the D strain. In the right hand, the first short phrase acts as the “call,” and the second short phase in a higher octave acts as the “response,” mimicking a conversation between two people. Meanwhile, the bass line in the left hand provides the cycle of fifths, which is reminiscent of Ballin’ the Jack by Chris Smith (Ex.9.5a and 9.5b).

Ex. 9.5a Old Adam, mm.54-60. The “call and response” in the D strain.

Ex. 9.5b Ballin’ the Jack by Chris Smith, mm21-27.

88

Ultimately, Old Adam is a fast and straightforward rag that combines the influences of animal dance style, stride style, and also classic rag style. The use of five to six flat keys in this piece reflects Bolcom’s personal compositional characteristics, which can also be identified in Bolcom’s many other contemporary compositions.

The Eternal Feminine

The Eternal Feminine is an elegant slow drag which describes the character of Eve. This piece exhibits the typical style of classic ragtime in several aspects, such as the use of form, tonalities, tempo, harmonies, phrase structures, and rhythms. In contrast, the tonal ambiguity of the C strain reflects Bolcom’s incorporation of new compositional idioms into ragtime.

89

Three main themes constitute a rather traditional rag form in The Eternal Feminine, AA-BB-A-Transition-CC-Transition-B’. Like traditional classic rags, most strains in this piece contain the typical sixteen measures except for the B’ strain, which has twenty measures. The A and B strains are in the key of A-flat major, which is the tonic key, and the C and the B’ strains move to the key of D-flat major, the subdominant key (Ex.10.1).

Ex.10.1 the formal diagram of The Eternal Feminine.

The Eternal Feminine has a slow march tempo, which is one important sign of traditional classic rag style. Other features of classic ragtime style in this piece include the well-balanced two-bar and four-bar phrase structures, the simple diatonic harmonies, and the tied syncopated rhythms found at the very beginning of the piece (Ex.10.2).

90

Ex. 10.2 The Eternal Feminine, mm.1-4.

In the B strain, cakewalk-style syncopations featuring short-long-short patterns dominate the right-hand melody against the left hand’s march-style “oom-pah” pattern accompaniment (Ex.10.3).

Ex.10.3 The Eternal Feminine, mm.18-21. The beginning of the B strain.

While the first four-bar transition sets up the tonality of D-flat major, the C strain demonstrates tonal ambiguity. In Bolcom’s interpretation, the unexpected harmonic progressions and the unstable tonality in the C strain symbolize the “Mystery of Woman.” 123 The strain starts in B-flat minor, and then moves to several other distant keys such as F-sharp minor. The tonality never settles down into any certain key until the last two measures of the strain, where D-flat major finally returns. Meanwhile, the

123

Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano.

91

twisted and chromatic melody line in the right hand keeps moving up and down in unexpected directions, and contains lots of half-step appoggiaturas (Ex. 10.4a and 10.4b).

Ex. 10.4a The Eternal Feminine, mm.51-58. The beginning of the C strain.

Ex. 10.4b The Eternal Feminine, mm.67-70. The ending of the C strain.

After the second four-bar transition, the B’ strain returns, but in the subdominant key, D-flat major (Ex. 10.5).

92

Ex. 10.5 The Eternal Feminine, mm.72-79. The second transition and the beginning of the B’ strain.

In The Eternal Feminine, Bolcom retains many features of classic ragtime style; however, the harmonic ambiguity in the C strain indicates that Bolcom is freely incorporating new ideas into his rags. This can be seen more often in his later rags.

The Serpent’s Kiss

The Serpent’s Kiss is a “Rag Fantasy.” Bolcom claims that the idea of “rag fantasy” came from his colleague William Albright, who used the term earlier in his ragtime compositions. The term “fantasy” (fantasia) means “an ingenious and

93

imaginative instrumental composition, often characterized by distortion, exaggeration, and elusiveness resulting from its departure from current stylistic and structural norms.” 124 A rag fantasy has an extended rag form in which composers use more freedom and imagination in their musical expression. Unlike some traditional rags which bear fancy titles, such as a name of a flower or a person’s nickname, but have nothing to do with telling a story or portraying a picture with their musical content, The Serpent’s Kiss not only has a descriptive title but also depicts the character of the serpent by means of varied musical ideas. In order to gain a theatrical effect, Bolcom greatly expanded the traditional ragtime form in this piece, so that it has a form of AA-B-Transition-A’-C-DEE-A-Coda. Some strains are much longer than the regular sixteen measures, and some strains even contain multiple themes rather than only one. The tempo, tonality, dynamics, texture, and musical expressions in The Serpent’s Kiss change frequently from one strain to another, creating great contrasts between the sections (Ex. 11.1). In addition, Bolcom applies the thematic transformation technique, a technique not commonly used in traditional rags but seen more often in romantic pieces, in The Serpent’s Kiss to unify the whole piece. For instance, some motives introduced at the beginning of the piece are transformed into different musical ideas in later strains.

124

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1986), s.v. “Fantasia,” by Arthur J. Ness.

94

Ex. 11.1 The formal diagram of The Serpent’s Kiss.

The A strain of The Serpent’s Kiss is a typical example of the expanded strain, which contains twenty-two measures with two different themes. The first theme has repeating sixteenth notes centered in the key of D minor (Ex. 11.2a). The second theme features broken chords combined with lots of non-chord tones (Ex. 11.2b). Bolcom indicates that both themes need to be played in a “fast, diabolical” tempo and “secco.” The fast-driving-theme style recalls two piano works by Sergei Prokofiev, Diabolical Suggestion from Opus 4 and Toccata from Opus 11 (Ex.11.2c, 11.2d).

95

Ex. 11.2a The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.1-4. The first theme of the A strain.

Ex.11.2b The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.9-16. The second theme of the A strain.

Ex. 11.2c Diabolical Suggestion, Opus 4, by Sergei Prokofiev, mm24-30.

96

Ex. 11.2d Toccata, Opus 11, by Sergei Prokofiev, mm1-8.

The A strain ends with an unresolved cadence. In order to divide the A strain and the B strain effectively, Bolcom inserts an extra measure in 1/8 meter, which contains only an eighth rest, between the two strains (Ex. 11.3a). Bolcom uses this very unusual solution again later between the returning A strain and the coda, where the eighth rest performs the same function as before. Bolcom also employs the thematic transformation technique to unify the entire piece. A typical example is the motive of the theme in the B strain, which is transformed into different themes in later sections of the piece. First, the motive, which features tied syncopations, is transformed into the theme of the transition (Ex.11.3a and 11.3b), and then it is expanded and used as the theme of the D strain and one of the coda themes (Ex. 11.5a and 11.7b).

97

Ex. 11.3a The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.25-29. The theme of the B strain.

Ex. 11.3b The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.42-44. The transformed B strain theme in the transition.

The mystical approach can be heard in the C strain of this piece. The C strain contains a series of chords, but these chords are not connected to each other in the traditional sense of harmonic progressions. For example, between measure 72 and measure 74, the chords in the series do not have close tonal relations. Instead, they are only parallel to each other: the first chord is a D major chord, the second chord is a B-flat minor chord, the third chord is a C-flat sixth chord, etc. Combined with the slow tempo and contrasting dynamics, the series of chords creates a mysterious atmosphere. From measure 77 to measure 78, the agitated rhythmic figures suddenly break the quiet and steady mood of C strain with a dynamic of ff and an irregular 5/16 meter, which further

98

intensifies the mystical effect (Ex. 11.4). The series of mysterious chords also serves as the basic set of harmonies for the next strain, the D strain.

Ex. 11.4 The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.72-80. The beginning of the C strain.

Freely changing tempos are not typical in traditional ragtime; however, the D strain of The Serpent’s Kiss features such tempo changes. Bolcom gives many performance instructions indicating tempo changes in this strain, such as the terms “Languorous; freely,” “poco accel.,” “Now really speed up!” “Take off!” and “ancora accel.” These unusual instructions indicate that the C strain should start in a relatively slow tempo, then gradually speed up and end in a fast tempo (Ex. 11.5a, 11.5b).

99

Ex. 11.5a The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.89-93. “Languorous; freely.”

Ex. 11.5b The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.97-107. “Take off.”

100

In the E strain of The Serpent’s Kiss, Bolcom use the tempo marking, “Stoptime.” According to the Harvard Dictionary, “Stoptime” means In tap dancing, jazz, and blues, accompaniment consisting of a regular pattern of attacks (e.g. on the first beat of each measure) separated by silences. Interrupting normal accompanimental rhythms (the “time”), such single, accented attacks alternate, often every two bars, with a solo. 125

Therefore, the function of stoptime is to produce clear alternations between the ensemble and the solo. In solo piano pieces, however, the effect is slightly different. Stoptime is a tradition from the classic ragtime period. Scott Joplin wrote a rag entitled “Stoptime” Rag in 1910, in which he explicitly explained how to achieve stoptime in piano. He indicated, “. . . to get the desired effect of ‘Stoptime’ the pianist should stamp the heel of one foot heavily upon the floor, whenever the word ‘stamp’ appears in the music.” 126 In Joplin’s score, the word “stamp” not only appears when both hands are playing but also when both hands are taking rests. In Bolcom’s The Serpent’s Kiss, the concept of stoptime is further developed. The Serpent’s Kiss requires the performer to fill in a variety of rhythmic patterns by clicking the tongue, knocking the wooden part of the piano, or tap dancing during the short breaks between chords. These performance techniques not only bring the serpent’s dance to life but also create an exciting climax to The Serpent’s Kiss (Ex.11.6).

125

The New Harvard Dictionary of Music. (The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press,

1986), 807. 126

Scott Joplin, Scott Joplin Complete Piano Works. (Warner Bros. Publications, 1981), 216.

101

Ex. 11.6 The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.108-116. “Stoptime.”

The Serpent’s Kiss concludes with a spectacular coda, which is fifty-two measures long and consists of several small sections. These sections include a new theme, motives from the earlier strains, and a theme quotation from the previous rag of the suite, The Eternal Feminine (Ex.11.7a. 11.7b, 11.7 c). The coda starts at measure 159. The musical indication that the coda begins at that measure is that the A strain has completely recapitulated before, and the new section is firmly based in the tonic key of D minor. The new theme in the coda features ground bass ostinato, which is reminiscent of the Baroque musical style of the seventeenth century. The descending ostinato bass pattern probably symbolizes the fall from Eden, which was introduced earlier by the serpent (Ex.11.7a). The theme quotation from The Eternal Feminine, five measures before the end of the piece, might suggest the serpent’s mocking of Eve when his devilish plan has finally succeeded. The piece ends with a strong cadence in a dynamic of ffff, which gives a final resolution to the virtuosic and dramatic The Serpent’s Kiss.

102

Ex. 11.7a The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.159-168. The ground bass pattern at the beginning of the coda.

Ex. 11.7b The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.187-196. “Now! Let go!”

103

Ex. 11.7c The Serpent’s Kiss, mm.205-210. The theme quotation from The Eternal Feminine.

The Serpent’s Kiss is the most virtuosic piece in the suite The Garden of Eden. It contains fast running passages, large leaps of chords and octaves, and complex rhythms. With its other features, such as the wide range of dynamics, tempos, and textural changes, and the variety of extended performance techniques, The Serpent’s Kiss stands as one of Bolcom’s most substantial rags. 104

Through Eden’s Gates

Through Eden’s Gates is the last piece in The Garden of Eden. Unlike The Serpent’s Kiss, it contains neither dramatic effects nor formal complexities. As Bolcom states, this piece describes the moment that Adam and Eve calmly cakewalked out of Eden. 127 Through Eden’s Gates displays features of classic rag style, such as the traditional ragtime form, moderate tempo, simple diatonic harmonies, and cakewalk-style syncopations. Through Eden’s Gates also exhibits some stride style features, such as the call and response figures. Within its formal plan of Introduction-A-BB-A-C-D-Introduction-A, each strain of Through Eden’s Gates contains a standard sixteen measures. The A and B strains stay in C major, while the C and D strains move to F major, the subdominant key. C major finally returns when both the introduction and the A strain recapitulate (Ex. 12.1). Ex.12.1 The formal diagram of Through Eden’s Gates.

127

Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano.

105

The typical rhythmic pattern of classic ragtime, featuring tied syncopations in the right hand against the left hand’s march-style “oom-pah” accompaniment, appears at the beginning of the A strain. The harmonic progression is straightforward and mainly constituted of major triads and dominant seventh (ninth) chords (Ex. 12.2).

Ex. 12.2 Through Eden’s Gates, mm1-10.

The stride style call and response figure forms the basic texture of the B strain. One short phrase played by the right hand in the lower register of the keyboard acts as the call, and then the same phrase is echoed in a higher octave as the response (Ex. 12.3). The call and response probably symbolizes the conversations between Adam and Eve while they walk out of paradise, and it also recalls the call and response section in the opening piece of the suite, Old Adam.

106

Ex. 12.3 Through Eden’s Gates, mm20-23. “Call and Response.”

Like the trio of a typical classic rag, the C strain moves to the subdominant key, F major. In terms of rhythm, however, the strain contains no syncopations until the fourth measure (Ex. 12.4). This less-syncopated style is more common to traditional cakewalks. Ex. 12.4 The end of the B strain and the opening of the C strain in Through Eden’s Gates, mm. 34-42.

The D strain stays in F major and starts with a harmonic progression of II-V-I-IIIflat III-II in the bass line. The harmonic progression recalls the rag style of Joplin in, for example, The Cascades (Ex. 12.5a and 12.5b).

107

Ex. 12.5a The opening of the D strain in Through Eden’s Gates, mm. 53-60.

Ex. 12.5b The opening of the A strain in Joplin’s The Cascades, mm. 5-8.

The style of Through Eden’s Gates primarily resembles the classic rag style of Joplin. This piece is not very technically challenging. It has a moderate tempo and a few large leaps which are not out of the range of the usual technical requirements for playing a traditional classic rag. Despite being free of dramatic effects, the simple and lyrical melodic line combined with the classic rag style harmonies and syncopations makes this rag a very charming piece.

108

Lost Lady Rag

Lost Lady Rag was composed in 1969 and revised in 1970. According to Bolcom, “Lost Lady Rag is a very personal rag and a lament for a failed marriage.” 128 The sad mood of the piece is expressed by means of the use of chromaticism in its harmonies and melody, which shows the influence of nineteenth-century romantic style. Meanwhile, the rhythmic patterns of the piece are based on classic rag style. Within the formal structure of Introduction-A-B-A-C-D-E-C’, most of the strains in Lost Lady Rag have sixteen measures except for the E strain, which has eighteen measures; however, none of the strains repeats. The tonal plan of this piece is rather unusual. The first half of the piece continuously switches tonalities between B major and G-sharp minor, and the C strain does not move to the subdominant key, which finally appears in the D and E strains. Most strains in this piece are ambiguous in tonality, and the tonal center can be recognized only in the final cadences of some strains (Ex. 13.1).

128

Ibld.

109

Ex.13.1 The formal diagram of Lost Lady Rag.

The four-measure introduction establishes the key of B major; however, the A strain quickly moves into the minor key, G-sharp minor. The melodic line of this strain contains a descending minor second followed by a descending major third, similar to both Elegy from Lyric Pieces by Edward Grieg and Mazurka in C Sharp Minor by Chopin (Ex. 13.2a, 13.2b, and 13.2c).

110

Ex. 13.2a Lost Lady Rag, mm. 1-11. The introduction and the beginning of the A strain.

Ex. 13.2b Elegy from Lyric Pieces by Grieg, mm. 1-5. The beginning.

111

Ex. 13.2c Mazurka in C Sharp Minor, Op. 63 no.3 by Chopin, mm. 1-6.

In contrast to the A strain, the B strain moves back to B major. The left hand contains a typical classic rag style harmonic progression of ii7-V7- I (Ex.13.3).

Ex. 13.3 Lost Lady Rag, mm. 22-25. The beginning of the B strain.

The C strain, which Bolcom marks as “coda,” however, stays in the key of B major instead of moving to the subdominant key (Ex.13.4).

112

Ex. 13.4 The end of the B strain and the opening of the C strain in Lost Lady Rag, mm. 36-42.

The D strain is based in the key of E major; however, the tonality is not obvious at the beginning of the strain (Ex.13.5). Ex. 13.5 Lost Lady Rag, mm. 46-51. The beginning of the D strain.

113

The E strain stays in the key of E major. In this strain, Bolcom blends classic rag style syncopations in the right hand with stride style rolling tenth accompaniments in the left hand (Ex.13.6).

Ex. 13.6 Lost Lady Rag, mm. 63-66. The beginning of the E strain.

Lost Lady Rag ends in an unusual way. The C’ strain starts in the key of E major, the subdominant key, but the final cadence of the strain ends on a C-sharp minor chord without any preparation in the prior chords of the cadence, creating an unexpected final resolution to the piece (Ex. 13.7b).

114

Ex. 13.7 Lost Lady Rag, mm. 81-89. The beginning of the returning C strain.

Lost Lady Rag is an expressive character piece in which Bolcom merges the musical style of romanticism with the characteristics of classic ragtime style. The musical lyricism heard in this piece continuously emerges in Bolcom’s later rags. One of the most outstanding examples of this lyricism is his famous Graceful Ghost Rag.

115

Three Ghost Rags Graceful Ghost Rag

Three Ghost Rags consists of Graceful Ghost Rag, The Poltergeist, and Dream Shadows. All three rags demonstrate the strong influences of the classic rag styles of Joplin and Louis Chauvin (1881-1908). Among the three rags, Graceful Ghost Rag is the most popular. Graceful Ghost Rag was written in 1970 in memory of Bolcom’s father. It perfectly combines the elements of romantic musical style and classic rag style. It also illustrates the musical sophistication of Bolcom’s writing in his treatment of musical parameters such as form, melody, rhythm, and counterpoint. Within a traditional formal scheme of AA-BB-C-C’-A, most of the strains in this piece contain the standard sixteen measures. However, there are some irregularities in the form. For example, the second C strain has seventeen measures. The one “extra” measure functions as a transition to the returning A strain. The tonality of the A and B strains is B-flat minor, a rarely used key in classic rags. The C strain moves to the key of G-flat major, which forms a strong tonal contrast to the minor key of the A and B strains (Ex.14.1).

116

Ex. 14.1 The formal diagram of Graceful Ghost Rag.

Graceful Ghost Rag’s lyricism is reflected in the opening theme of the piece, making it immediately very engaging. The charming cantabile theme combined with the syncopated rhythms creates a unique musical sensation which reflects both the simplicity of classic rag style and the expressiveness of romantic style (Ex.14.2).

Ex. 14.2 Graceful Ghost Rag, mm. 1-7. The beginning.

117

Musically, there is no obvious break between the A and B strains in this rag. The B strain continues the musical flow of the A strain by retaining both the syncopated rhythms and the lyrical melodic style of the A strain (Ex.14.3).

Ex. 14.3 Graceful Ghost Rag, mm. 16-22. The connection between the A and B strains.

In the C strain, Bolcom mingles the syncopated rhythms with a sophisticated counterpoint technique featuring alternating parallel tenths, fifths, sixths, and octaves between the outer and inner voices (Ex. 14.4a). The long melodic line and sophisticated counterpoint recall the musical style of Robert Schumann’s Kreisleriana (Ex. 14.4b).

118

Ex. 14.4a Graceful Ghost Rag, mm. 36-41. The beginning of the C strain.

Ex. 14.4 b Kreisleriana by Robert Schumann, mm. 1-6.

Graceful Ghost Rag closes with the returning A strain, a common practice in the formal structure descended from the romantic musical style.

119

Graceful Ghost Rag is in a moderate tempo, and Bolcom notes “Don’t drag.” The overall performance style for the piece should be similar that of a classic rag: keeping a straightforward tempo, avoiding playing too slowly, and not using too much exaggerated rubato. However, some flexible tempo changes, as Bolcom indicates on the score, are acceptable within the piece. Bolcom also mentions that both swing and straight rhythms are suitable for the piece, but he prefers not using too much swing rhythm 129 . Bolcom recorded at least two versions of Graceful Ghost Rag. In his 1970s solo piano recording in Heliotrope Bouquet Piano Rag (H-71257), Bolcom played Graceful Ghost Rag completely in swing. However, in his later piano-violin duet recording of Graceful Ghost Rag in the 1980s, Bolcom played in straight rhythms for the majority of the piece. Graceful Ghost Rag is a lyrical, romantic-style piece. In performance, wellcontrolled tones, clear phrasing, well-balanced voices, and preserving the flow of the rhythmic ragtime patterns all contribute to an authentic interpretation of this charming piece.

The Poltergeist

The Poltergeist, the second piece in Three Ghost Rags, was written in 1971. A “poltergeist” is a spirit who plays jokes on people. 130 Like The Serpent’s Kiss in the suite The Garden of Eden, The Poltergeist is a rag fantasy. It possesses an extended rag

129 130

Bolcom, Interview by Yeung Yu. Ibid.

120

form and dissonant harmonies. As Bolcom explains, it “explores nearly every ‘frozen’ appoggiatura and substitution in the harmonic book.” 131 By utilizing a formal scheme of AA-B-B’-Transition-C-C’-B”B”-C”-C”’, The Poltergeist includes four basic themes and a transition, and the second and fourth themes are developed into several variations (Ex. 15.1). Most of the strains have one theme, except the B strain, which consists of two themes (Ex. 15.3a, 15.4). The B strain is the longest strain in the piece and contains a total of twenty-three measures. The theme of the C strain develops into several variations, which differ in their harmonies, melodic embellishments, and accompaniment patterns (Ex. 15.5a, 15.5 b, 15.5c, and 15.5d). The tonal structure of The Poltergeist is fairly traditional. The A and B strains mainly stay in the key of E-flat minor and G-flat major, and the C strain moves to the A-flat minor, which is the subdominant key of E-flat minor (Ex. 15.2, 15.4, 15.5a).

Ex. 15.1 The formal diagram of The Poltergeist.

131

Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano.

121

Ex. 15.2 The Poltergeist, mm. 1-7. The first theme.

Ex. 15.3a The Poltergeist, mm. 19-22. The second theme.

122

Ex. 15.3b The Poltergeist, mm. 104-110. Var.1 of the second theme.

Ex. 15.4 The Poltergeist, mm. 34-37. The third theme.

123

Ex. 15.5a The Poltergeist, mm. 68-74. The transition and the fourth theme.

Ex. 15.5b The Poltergeist, mm. 87-93. Var.1 of the fourth theme.

124

Ex. 15.5c The Poltergeist, mm. 124-131. Var.2 of the fourth theme.

Ex. 15.5d The Poltergeist, mm. 139-144. Var.3 of the fourth theme.

125

Bolcom extensively uses dissonant sonorities in depicting the playful poltergeistlike figure in the piece. For example, the A strain contains lots of non-chord tones and dissonant intervals such as major sevenths, minor ninths, and tri-tone chords, which comprise the crushing sound of the piece (Ex.15.6).

Ex. 15.6 The Poltergeist, mm.12-15.

The B strain also features dissonances. For example, the first theme is characterized by the use of whole-tone scales in canon. Dissonances are also created by pressing the white keys and the black keys simultaneously (Ex.15.3a). Dissonant sounds also appear in the B” strain, in which Bolcom uses tone clusters along with atonal and whole-tone scale passages, a practice seen more often in twentiethcentury music (Ex. 15.7)

Ex. 15.7 The Poltergeist, mm.111-114.

126

The Poltergeist represents Bolcom’s broad exploration of appoggiaturas, atonal approaches, dissonant harmonies, and tone clusters in conjunction with traditional ragtime syncopated rhythms. These fine additions make this rag sound more innovative than traditional rags. Since it is in the keys of E-flat and A-flat minor, the piece is more technically challenging to the performer because of the six to seven flats.

Dream Shadows

Dream Shadows was written in the same year as The Poltergeist and is the third piece in Three Ghost Rags. It fuses classic ragtime style with stride style and some early twentieth-century cabaret song features. Bolcom confessed that it “would not sound out of place in a Joan Crawford movie-drama.” 132 The varieties of musical styles are combined smoothly in each section of the piece, as is evident in Bolcom’s sophisticated use of harmony, rhythm, and musical textures. Dream Shadows comprises five different themes in a complex formal structure of AA-BB-C-D-C’-B-Coda. The piece can also be divided into three large contrasting sections. The first section includes the A and B strains, which are based in C major. The C and D strains constitute the second section, in which two themes contrast with one another in the keys of F major and A minor. The returning B strain and the coda make up the third section of the piece, where the tonality returns to C major (Ex. 16.1).

132

Ibid.

127

Ex. 16.1 The formal diagram of Dream Shadows.

The first section of the piece, which includes the A and B strains, contains many stride style features. First, Bolcom suggests that the rhythm of this strain can be played in swing like a traditional stride piece, though he also wants to leave the decision to the performer. 133 Another reflection of the stride style tradition is the use of blue notes and complex harmonies. For example, in the second measure, the E-flat (D-sharp) note in the right hand should be treated as a blue note, supported by the complex minor eleventh and altered dominant seventh chords in the left hand. Meanwhile, the left hand’s filled-in tenths accompaniment figures are a stride style feature which Eubie Blake used very often in his pieces (Ex. 16.2).

133

Bolcom, Interview by Yeung Yu.

128

Ex. 16.2 Dream Shadows, mm. 1-3. The beginning of the A strain.

The B strain maintains the melodic and harmonic styles of the A strain, continuing to reflect stride features. The first measure contains a B-flat blue note in the right hand, and the left hand continues to feature filled-in tenth accompaniment figures with complex harmonies (Ex. 16.3).

Ex. 16.3 Dream Shadows, mm. 18-21. The beginning of B strain.

In the C strain, a lyrical and syncopated melodic line in the right hand combined with simple harmonies in the left hand forms a song-like section. Because Bolcom indicates “simply” on the score, this section is in a lighter classic ragtime style. This implies that the sixteenth notes may sound better treated in even time instead of in swing (Ex. 16.4).

129

Ex.16.4 Dream Shadows, mm. 36-39. The beginning of the C strain.

The two C strains are separated by an eight-measure section which can be called the D strain. The D strain functions as the trio to the C strains. The A minor key of the D strain forms a tonal contrast to the F major key of the C strain; otherwise, the C and D strains share similar musical textures (Ex. 16.5).

Ex. 16.5 Dream Shadows, mm. 52-55. The beginning of the D strain.

After the returning B strain, the coda is the dreamiest and most mysterious section of the piece. The dynamic levels vary only from p to pppp the majority of the time, and the una corda creates the dreamlike sense. Some stride style features also contribute to the atmosphere of the section, such as the softly and smoothly continuous dotted rhythms and the blue notes and harmonies in the right hand accompanied by the steady parallel

130

tenths in the left hand (Ex.16.6a). The atmosphere and the melodic contour of this section recall another American masterpiece, Gershwin’s second prelude (Ex. 16.6b).

Ex. 16.6a Dream Shadows, mm. 74-79. The beginning of the coda.

Ex. 16.6b Prelude II by George Gershwin, mm. 1-8.

131

Dream Shadows is a very distinctive rag comprised of several contrasting sections in different moods and styles. With its dreamy ending, it stands as the most mysterious rag in Three Ghost Rags.

Ex. 16.7 Dream Shadows, mm.98-101. The ending.

The Gardenia

“Gardenia, a wistful rag, starts in sunny major [key] and ends in a passionate minor key,” 134 Bolcom says of the rag he composed in 1970, the same year he wrote Graceful Ghost Rag. The two rags share many similarities, including the lyricism of the melodies and the classic rag style syncopated rhythms and simple harmonies. Also, both rags end in the same key, B-flat minor. However, The Gardenia is a “Slow drag,” while Graceful Ghost Rag’s performance instruction is “Don’t drag.”

134

Bolcom, foreword to William Bolcom Complete Rags for Piano.

132

The Gardenia has a traditional classic rag formal scheme of Introduction-AA-BB’-C-DD. As is typical to traditional rags, each strain contains sixteen measures. This rag starts in the key of F major, and then moves into B-flat major—the subdominant key—in the C strain, finally ending in B-flat minor in the D strain (Ex. 17.1).

Ex. 17.1 The formal diagram of The Gardenia.

The most frequently used rhythmic figures in this rag are tied syncopations in the right hand accompanied by left-hand “oom-pah” patterns which dominate nearly every strain of the piece (Ex. 17.2-17.5). Most sixteenth notes in this piece should be played evenly, although Bolcom indicates that some specific syncopated patterns should be played almost as triplets; therefore, a little bit of swing is allowed (Ex. 17.2).

133

Ex. 17.2 The Gardenia, mm. 1-8. The introduction and the beginning of the A strain.

Ex. 17.3 The Gardenia, mm. 22-25. The beginning of the B strain.

134

Ex. 17.4 The Gardenia, mm. 54-56. The beginning of the C strain.

Ex. 17.5 The Gardenia, mm. 70-73. The beginning of the D strain.

Like Graceful Ghost Rag, The Gardenia is a lyrical piece. The form, harmony, and rhythm are simple, light, and straightforward in classic rag style.

Rag-Tango

Rag-Tango was composed in 1971. It is the only piece from this collection in which Bolcom combines musical elements from both ragtime and tango. This piece is Bolcom’s homage to Ernesto Nazareth, a Brazilian tango master. However, Bolcom also confesses, “Brazil’s great Joplin counterpart Ernesto Nazareth was as yet unknown to me when I wrote Rag-Tango (a case of reverse influence perhaps?); my later use of its main 135

theme in my cello sonata within a Nazareth-influenced movement happened after I had come to know that master.” 135 Within a large and complex formal structure of AA-BB-Transition-C-TransitionD-B’-C’-A’-Coda, Rag-Tango contains six main themes with variations (Ex. 18.1). Each theme presents different uses of rhythm, harmony, and texture. The tonalities vary: the A, B, and D strains primarily stay in the keys of A-flat major or F minor, while the C strains often move to distant keys such as E major and F major.

Ex. 18.1 The formal diagram of Rag-Tango.

The sixteen-measure A strain has one theme which features a lovely duet in the right hand accompanied by a habanera-style pattern in the left hand. The tied syncopations in the right hand are obviously derived from classic ragtime, while the habanera pattern in the left hand mimics South American dance rhythms (Ex.18.2b). 135

Ibid.

136

Early ragtime style embraced the influences of South American dance rhythms, and traditional classic ragtime composers including Joplin and Louis Chauvin frequently combined habanera rhythms with ragtime syncopations in their rags. For example, they used similar rhythmic patterns in Heliotrope Bouquet (Ex.18.2b). It is possible that Bolcom was influenced by Joplin and Chauvin’s rags and utilized similar patterns in RagTango before he was influenced by Ernesto Nazareth. Another notable feature of the A strain is the use of dissonance, which reflects Bolcom’s own style. The left hand accompaniment consistently highlights non-chord tones, such as the E natural and B natural, which remain unresolved dissonances throughout the A strain (Ex. 18.2a).

Ex. 18.2a Rag-Tango, mm. 1-4. The theme of the A strain.

Ex. 18.2b Heliotrope Bouquet by Joplin and Chauvin, mm5-8.

137

The thirty-four measure B strain includes two contrasting themes. The first theme, which Bolcom indicates should be played “heavier,” incorporates two to three simultaneous melodic lines with syncopated rhythms in the right hand accompanied by the left hand’s consistent drum-like repeated chord patterns. The tonality of this theme is firmly rooted in F minor, the relative minor of the A strain’s theme (Ex. 18.3a). In contrast to the first theme of the strain, the second theme is “lighter,” as Bolcom indicates. It contains a similar contrapuntal texture to that of the A strain’s theme, and it is more lyrical than the first theme of the B strain. The tonality of this theme moves back to A-flat major, the tonic key of the piece (Ex. 18.3b).

Ex. 18.3a Rag-Tango, mm. 18-21. The first theme of the B strain.

Ex. 18.3b Rag-Tango, mm. 34-41. The second theme of the B strain.

138

After the B strain, there is a nine-measure transition containing syncopated Latin dance rhythms in both hands, and the C strain follows (Ex. 18.4a). The C strain is a large section in the key of E major. The whole strain consists of a two-part theme in the form of AABABA. The beginning of the A section of the theme features a syncopated melody line in parallel sixths in the left hand, accompanied by broken chord patterns in the right hand. Then the melodic line moves into the right hand during its repetition (Ex.18.4b, 18.4c). The B section of the theme is the extension of the A section, and it is the climax of the whole theme (Ex. 18.4d).

Ex. 18.4a Rag-Tango, mm53-57. The transition.

139

Ex. 18.4b Rag-Tango, mm62-69. The A section of the theme of the C strain.

Ex. 18.4c Rag-Tango, mm72-77. The repeating of the A section of the theme.

140

Ex. 18.4d Rag-Tango, mm80-85. The B section of the theme of the C strain.

The musical figures from the transition return after the C strain. Here, the transition is developed and extended to fifteen measures, almost the length of a complete strain. Its vigorous syncopated dance rhythms culminate in a climax in ff, the loudest part of the entire piece. The subsequent D strain features a theme which contains lots of nonchord tone appoggiaturas in the right hand. Although the basic tonality of the D strain is F minor, the left-hand drumbeat-like repeated-chord accompaniment always emphasizes the bass note, G, instead of the tonic key, F. All of these elements make this strain the most tonally ambiguous section of Rag-Tango (Ex. 18.5).

141

Ex. 18.5 Rag-Tango, mm101-112. The end of the transition and the beginning of the D strain theme.

Only one part of the second theme from the B strain returns after the D strain, and then the C strain theme returns, but in F major this time. Following that is the recapitulation of the A strain with thickly textured accompaniment patterns featuring parallel fifths (Ex. 18.6a). The twenty-six measure coda is very noteworthy for its texture. The right hand carries a long melodic line in the top voice, forming a beautiful canon with an inner voice in the left hand. The duet of the two voices represents Bolcom’s unique sense for using contrapuntal techniques in ragtime (Ex. 18.6b).

142

Ex. 18.6a Rag-Tango, mm157-160.

Ex. 18.6b Rag-Tango, mm. 177-188. The coda.

Rag-Tango is the longest piece in the collection, and it is unique for its combination of musical elements from both classic ragtime and Latin dance. The charm

143

of this piece comes from the smooth combination of dance rhythms, rich harmonies, lyrical melodies, and the subtle use of contrapuntal techniques.

Knight Hubert

Knight Hubert (1971), in honor of Eubie Blake, is essentially based on early twentieth-century New York stride style. As Bolcom states, “Knight Hubert actually recalls James Hubert (Eubie) Blake’s own style less than that of his friend Charles Luckeyeth Robert (‘Luckey’), a great New York society stride pianist whose song hit was ‘Moonlight Cocktail.’” 136 The time signature in this piece, which is 2/2 instead of 2/4, is one of the traits of stride style. Several other features of stride style, such as swing, dotted rhythms, and blue notes, are reflected in nearly every strain of the piece. Within a traditional ragtime formal scheme of AA-BB-A’-Transition-CC-DD, the first half of Knight Hubert, including the A and B strains, is in the key of D-flat major. In the second half of the piece, which starts from the C strain, the tonality moves to G-flat major, the subdominant key (Ex. 19.1).

136

Ibid.

144

Ex. 19.1 The formal diagram of Knight Hubert.

The A strain of Knight Hubert combines swing rhythm in the right hand’s melodic line with stride accompaniment patterns in the left hand. The right hand melody does not contain syncopations at the beginning, but there is extensive use of blue notes. For example, the E natural in the right hand melody is a blue note, which functions as a grace note and decorates the melody (Ex. 19.2a). The use of blue and grace notes was a common phenomenon in traditional stride pieces. For example, similar grace notes can be found in Eubie Blake’s Charleston Rag (19.2b).

145

Ex. 19.2a Knight Hubert, mm. 1-4. The beginning of the A strain.

Ex. 19.2b The Charleston Rag by Eubie Blake, mm. 67-70.

The rhythmic patterns in the B strain are developed from the A strain. The right hand adds both tied and untied syncopations to the melody, and the parallel tenth walking bass patterns in the left hand present a typical stride accompaniment style.

146

Ex. 19.3 Knight Hubert, mm. 10-16. The beginning of the B strain.

The A’ strain presents a new theme comprised partially of patterns from the A strain. The new theme features continuous dotted rhythms in both hands. The use of broken tenths with ties in the left hand is a device which came from the later stride style of the 1920s. Stride pianists used broken tenths as decorations to the bass line. Usually, “the first note could be the lower or upper note of the tenth and act[s] as a kind of grace note or anticipation tied over to the second note.” 137 This device makes the bass line smoother and also improves the continuity of the harmonic progression.

137

Valerio, 48.

147

Ex. 19.4 Knight Hubert, mm. 25-30. The new theme in the A’ strain.

After a short four-bar transition, the C strain starts with Boogie Woogie patterns in dotted rhythms in both hands. The first two measures are divided into three uneven units, which form a rhythmic pattern of 3+2+3. Irregularity in rhythmic patterns is seen more frequently in modern repertoire, which often brings unexpected surprises to the audience (Ex.19.5a and 19.5b).

148

Ex. 19.5a Knight Hubert, mm. 47-51. p68, line 4-5.

Ex. 19.5b the typical Boogie Woogie pattern.

Similar to the A’ strain, dotted rhythms in both hands dominate the D strain. The right hand has some blue notes such as the A natural, which is the lower third of G-flat major. The broken octave accompaniment patterns in the left hand are reminiscent of Eubie Blake’s Charleston Rag (Ex. 19.6a, 19.6b).

149

Ex. 19.6a Knight Hubert, mm. 67-69. The beginning of the D strain.

Ex. 19.6b Eubie Blake’s Charleston Rag, mm. 71-78.

In this collection, Knight Hubert is the only piece after Eubie’s Luckey Day which is mainly characterized by stride style. The jazz and blues features in this piece all significantly distinguish it from Bolcom’s classic rag style pieces.

150

Raggin’ Rudi

Raggin’ Rudi, written in 1974, is dedicated to Bolcom’s close friend, muchadmired ragtime and jazz scholar Rudi Blesh. The piece is based predominantly on the musical style of classic rag and has a form of Introduction-AA-BB-A-CC-IntroductionA’. Each strain contains sixteen measures. The C strain moves away from the tonic key of C major and settles into the subdominant key, F major. The most commonly used rhythmic patterns in this rag are classic rag style tied syncopations, which dominate nearly every strain of the piece. The harmonies in Raggin’ Rudi are fairly simple; there are no complex harmonies but major and minor triads and dominant seventh chords. There are only minimal stride style features, found in the B and C strains (Ex. 20.1).

Ex. 20.1 The formal diagram of Raggin’ Rudi.

151

One introduction and three different themes constitute Raggin’ Rudi. The introduction is played twice and features non-chord tone appoggiaturas (Ex.20.2). The A strain theme resembles classic ragtime style patterns, featuring a syncopated right-hand melody accompanied by left-hand “oom-pah” patterns (Ex. 20.3). Stride style elements present themselves in the theme of the B strain, which features rolling parallel tenths in the left hand (Ex. 20.4). The C strain contains syncopated rhythmic patterns similar to those from the A strain, and it also borrows some rolling tenth accompaniment patterns from the B strain (Ex.20.5).

Ex. 20.2 Raggin’ Rudi, mm. 1-4. The introduction.

Ex. 20.3 Raggin’ Rudi, mm. 5-10. The A strain theme.

152

Ex. 20.4 Raggin’ Rudi, mm. 22-26. The B strain theme.

Ex. 20.5 Raggin’ Rudi, mm. 40-43. The C strain theme.

Raggin’ Rudi resembles classic ragtime style in all aspects, from form to rhythm to harmony. Within the simplicity of the style, Bolcom achieved sophistication in his harmony, counterpoint, and melody in this piece.

Fields of Flowers

In 1977, Bolcom wrote Fields of Flowers in dedication to his old friend Tom Constanten, an important rag composer. However, Fields of Flowers is not a typical rag due to its several non-ragtime features. First, it is not in a traditional ragtime form which usually contains at least three different themes or strains; while in this piece, there are 153

only two themes. Within its structure of Introduction-AA-B-Introduction’-A’-B’-Coda, it can be divided into three large parts. The first part includes the introduction and two themes. The second part includes the variations of the introduction and two themes from the first part. The last part is a long coda of twenty-five measures. Each theme (strain) contains irregular numbers of measures, such as 11, 13, and 15. In terms of tonality, the piece mostly remains in G major or minor without modulating to other keys, such as the subdominant key (Ex. 21.1). Another unusual feature is the use of rhythm in this piece; the syncopations are not used in the traditional manner of classic ragtime style.

Ex. 21.1 The formal diagram of Fields of Flowers.

At the introduction, the left-hand bass line contains continuous syncopations which feature repeating G notes, while the right hand carries a lyrical duet in parallel thirds without syncopations. The parallelism of the texture remains unchanged throughout the piece (Ex. 21.2).

154

Ex. 21.2 Fields of Flowers, mm. 1-4.

In the first theme, the animal dance style dotted rhythms dominate the right-hand melody, which is accompanied by the steady left-hand “oom-pah” patterns (Ex. 21.3).

Ex. 21.3 Fields of Flowers, mm. 9-12. The first theme.

In the second theme, the dotted rhythms move to the left-hand accompaniment against the right hand’s floating duet in eighth-note patterns (Ex. 21.4).

155

Ex. 21.4 Fields of Flowers, mm. 27-30. The second theme.

.

In the variation of the first theme, Bolcom does not indicate dotted rhythms in the

right-hand melody as before; instead, he adds some dotted rhythms in the left-hand accompaniment (Ex. 21.5). Ex. 21.5 Fields of Flowers, mm. 49-53. The variation of the first theme.

156

The variation of the second theme has a much thicker texture than its original form. There are additional voices and notes, and the added sixteenth notes make the theme more flowing (Ex. 21.6).

Ex. 21.6 Fields of Flowers, mm. 62-64. The variation of the second theme.

Similar to the first theme of the piece, the coda features dotted rhythms in the right-hand melody against left-hand march-style accompaniment patterns (Ex. 21.7).

Ex. 21.7 Fields of Flowers, mm. 72-76. The beginning of the coda.

157

Overall, Fields of Flowers is a light and simple piece in both musical style and texture. There are neither dramatic contrasting sections nor tempo changes throughout the piece. In its simplicity, Fields of Flowers represents Bolcom’s elegant compositional style.

Epithalamium

Epithalamium is the most recent rag from the collection and was written in 1993 in dedication to Bolcom’s close friend, Max Morath, for his wedding with Diane Skomars. It was composed more than twenty-five years after Bolcom wrote his first piano rag in 1967. Compared to Bolcom’s early rags, Epithalamium is still in classic rag style, but there is more flexibility in the variety of musical textures and rhythmic patterns used in each strain of the piece. With a structure of AA-BB-CC-DD, this piece is one of Bolcom’s most predictable rags in terms of form. Each strain of the piece contains the standard sixteen measures, though they contrast with one another in their tonalities. The A strain begins the piece in A major, and then the B strain moves to F-sharp minor as a contrasting key. The C strain stays in G major’s subdominant key, D major. The D strain moves back to the tonic key of A major (Ex. 22.1).

158

Ex. 22.1 The formal diagram of Epithalamium.

The A strain has tied syncopations in the right hand and alternations between the bass line and chords in the left hand. Between the lower register bass line and the higher register chords in the left hand there is also an independent syncopated inner voice which enriches the harmonies and improves the flow of the music (Ex. 22.2). The use of inner voices in the left-hand accompaniment rarely appears in Bolcom’s early rags.

Ex. 22.2 Epithalamium, mm. 1-4. The beginning of the A strain.

The B strain differs from the A strain not only in tonality but also in its more agitated character. The right hand has a syncopated melodic line in broken arpeggios, while the left hand breaks its regular “oom-pah” pattern by placing the chords before the bass notes, so that it becomes a “pah-oom” pattern, also rarely found in Bolcom’s early

159

rags (Ex. 22.3). This flexible accompaniment style was favored by many stride pianists, such as James P. Johnson and Eubie Blake.

Ex. 22.3 Epithalamium, mm. 18-21. The beginning of the B strain.

The C strain is unique for its continuous syncopated rhythmic patterns and the parallelism of its harmonies. The left hand carries a syncopated descending melodic line in parallel fifths, which creates a very special sonority resembling the sound of church bells, while the right hand begins with weak beats and then continuously interlocks with the left hand’s rhythmic patterns, which are only found in this piece (Ex. 22.4).

160

Ex. 22.4 Epithalamium, mm. 35-39. The beginning of the C strain.

The D strain is the triumph of Epithalamium. In the manner of a traditional classic rag, the dynamic level increases from f to ff. The right hand features a syncopated melody which is accompanied by the left-hand alternation of bass line and chord patterns (Ex. 22.5). Ex. 22.5 Epithalamium, mm. 53-56. The beginning of the D strain.

161

In its formal structure, Epithalamium demonstrates the simplicity of classic rag style, while by means of its flexible musical textures and rich harmonies, it represents Bolcom’s mastery of the ragtime genre after twenty-five years of exploring it.

162

CHAPTER 6 Conclusion

In his twenty-two piano rags, William Bolcom perfectly blends a variety of musical styles into an organic whole. The ragtime traditions in his music are characterized by syncopated rhythms, harmonies, and forms; the nineteenth-century romanticism influence is presented in his use of lyricism in the melodic line and virtuosic piano techniques; and the twentieth-century contemporary musical idioms are reflected through his use of more advanced modern harmonies and dissonances. Bolcom’s ragtime style changed over the years. His earliest rags, written in 1967 and 1968, are heavily influenced by classic rag style, featuring simplicity in their rhythms, harmonies and forms. Bolcom’s rags written between 1969 and 1971 show more complexity; the harmonies, forms, rhythms, and musical textures are influenced by stride, animal dances, novelty piano, and tango musical styles. The last three of these twenty-two rags, written after 1974, return to simpler forms, rhythms, and harmonies. After Bolcom’s twenty years of composing ragtime, ragtime’s musical influence has seeped deeply into Bolcom’s compositional style and has become a natural part of his musical language. For example, Bolcom’s later piano works continuously use ragtime idioms: in Twelve New Etudes, Rag Infernal features ragtime rhythms and Récitatif has blues-style melodic lines and harmonies. In ragtime, William Bolcom accesses a link between the classical music and the popular music, and in his explorations of these worlds he freely combines different musical styles in his compositions. Bolcom’s piano rags have elevated the unique

163

American musical genre of ragtime to new heights and have expanded the scope of the modern concert repertoire.

164

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Berlin, Edward A. “Ragtime and Improvised Piano: Another View.” Journal of Jazz Studies, No.2 (Spring/Summer 1977): 4-9. ________. King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994. ________. Ragtime: A musical and cultural History. California: University of California Press, 1980. ________. Reflections and Research on Ragtime. New York: Brookly Collegeof the City University of New York, 1987. Blesh, Rudi and Harriet Janis. They All Played Ragtime. New York: Oak Publications, 1971. Blesh, Rudi. Classic Piano Rags: Complete Original Music For 81 rags. With an introduction by Rudi Blesh. New York: Dover Publications, 1973. Bolcom, William. “Trouble in the Music World.” Musical America, March 1990, 20-24. ________. Complete Rags for Piano. Milwaukee: Hal. Leonard Corporation, 1999. ________. Interview with Yeung Yu, May 16, 2005. Ann Arbor, Michigan. ________. Liner notes to the recording of William Bolcom Complete Rags. Record no. TROY 325/26. Albany Records, 1998. ________. Song and Dance: The American Way of Pianism. Edited by James R. Gaines. The Lives of the Piano. New York: Harper Colophon Books, 1983. Caramia, tony. Liner notes to the recording of Brass Knuckles: An Excursion into Contemporary Ragtime Compositions. Record no. TROY 253. Albany Records, 1997. Carl, Robert. “Six Case Studies in New American Music: A Postmodern Portrait.” College Music Symposium, 30 (spring 1990): 45-63. Eslin, Rob. Liner notes to the recording of The Complete Piano Music of Scott Joplin. Record no. CH 1716. Intersound Inc., 1996. Featherston, Linda Maag. “William Bolcom and the Ragtime Revival.” Master of Music thesis, Kansas State University, 1997.

165

Feingold, Michael. “Bolcom Goes for the Gold.” Village Voice, 1 September 1992, 8990, 93. Gammond, Peter. Scott Joplin and the Ragtime Era. London: Angus & Robertson, 1975. Gridley, Mark C. Jazz Styles: History and Analysis. 3rd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall: A Division of Simon & Schuster Englewood Cliffs, 1988. Groemer, Gerald H. “Path to the New Romanticism: Aesthetic and Thought of the American Post-Avant-Garde as Exemplified in Selected Tonal piano music.” D.M.A. diss., The Peabody Institute of the John Hopkins University, 1984. Haskins, James and Kathleen Benson. Scott Joplin. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, 1978. Hasse, John Edward, ed. Ragtime: Its History, Composers, and Music. New York: Schirmir Books, 1985. Hiemenz, Jack. “Musician of the Month: William Bolcom.” High Fidelity/Musical America, September 1976, 4-5, 39. Jasen, David A. and Gene Jones. That American Rag: The Story of Ragtime from Coast to Coast. New York: Schirmer Book, 2000. Jasen, David A. and Trebor Jay Tichenor. Rags and Ragtime: A Musical History. New York: The Seabury Press, 1978. Joplin, Scott. Complete Rags for Piano. New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1988. Kaiser, Audry Kathleen. “William Bolcom: A Survey of the Two-Piano Music.” D.M.A thesis, University of Kentucky, 2000. Kerner, Leighton. “William Bolcom, Burning Bright.” Village Voice, February 1987, 398. Kimball, Robert and William Bolcom. Reminiscing With Sissle and Blake. New York: The Viking Press, 1973. Lim, Tze Yean. “Works for Violin and Piano by William Bolcom: A Study in the Development of His Musical Style.” D.M.A thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2002. Malitz, Nancy. “Synthesizer.” Opera News, November 1992, 15-16, 30.

166

McAlexander, Dan K. “Works for Piano by William Bolcom: A Study in the Development of Musical Post Modernism.” D.M.A thesis, University of Cincinnati, 1994. McCutchan, Ann. The Muse That Sings: Composers Speak about the Creative process. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Montgomery, Michael. Liner notes to the recording of Eubie Blake: Memories of You. Record no. BCD 112. Biograph Records, Inc., 1990. Nicholls, David, ed. The Cambridge History of American Music. Cambridge University Press, 1988. Schafer, William J. and Johannes Riedel. The Art of Ragtime. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1973. Southern, Eileen. The Music of Black American: A History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1997. The New Grove Dictonary of music and Musicians. Edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillian Publishers Limited, 1980. S.v.”Ragtime,” by William Bolcom. ________. Edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrell. London: Macmillian Publishers Limited, 2001. S.v. “Postmodernism,” by Jann Pasler. ________. S.v. “Ragtime,” by Edward Berlin. ________. S.v. “Bolcom, William,” by Steven Johnson. ________. S.v. “Foxtrot,” by Pauline Norton. Valerio, John. Stride & Swing Piano. Milwaukee: Hal Leonard Corporation, 2003. Vinson, Charles Leslie. “The Influence of Ragtime on Twentieth-Century Solo Piano Music.” D.M.A. diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1996. Wait, Mark. “Meet the Composer-Pianist: William Bolcom.” The Piano Quarterly 142 (summer 1988): 33-40. Waldo, Terry. This is Ragtime. New York: Da Capo Press, 1984. Walker, Rosilee. “The Piano Novelty: A Distinct Musical Genre.” D.M.A. diss., University of Missouri-Kansas city, 1994.

167

Wilson, Laurence A. “Ragtime: Its Roots, Style, and Influence on Twentieth-Century Music.” D.M. diss., Indiana University, 1980.

ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Bolcom, William. William Bolcom and Joan Morris. 6 June 2005. 5 August 2006. 2 January 2007. 25 March 2007 . Dennison, Sam. “Coon Song.” Grove Music Online. Ed. L. Macy. 25 March 2007 . Duggan, Mary Kay. “Coon.” African Americans in California Sheet Music. 25 March 2007 . “In Search of Coon Songs, Racial Stereotypes in American Popular Song.” 2000. Parlor Songs. 25 March 2007 . Lowens, Irving and S. Frederick Starr. “Gottschalk, Louis Moreau.” Grove Music Online. Ed. L. Macy. 25 March 2007 . Wolbert, Jerome J. “The Ragtime Story.” Style of Jazz: Ragtime. 1995. 25 March 2007 .

168