Maple Leaf Rag

Composer: JOPLIN, Scott
  • This rag is named after the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri, where Scott Joplin worked as a ragtime pianist in 1898 and 1899.1
    • The Maple Leaf was the type of establishment which is sometimes euphemistically referred to as a “gentleman’s club.”2
    • When Joplin played at the Maple Leaf Club, he was billed as “Scott Joplin, the Entertainer.”3
  • The Maple Leaf Rag was published in 1899. Previously, Joplin had sold his music to publishers outright for a flat fee, which meant that he received no royalties. Before publishing the Maple Leaf Rag, he hired a lawyer to help him negotiate royalties in his contract with his publisher (1 penny for Joplin per copy sold).4 The Maple Leaf Rag became so popular that its royalties provided Joplin with a safety cushion of income for the rest of his life – by 1909, the Maple Leaf Rag had sold over 500,000 copies.5

Sources

  1. Edward A. Berlin, “Joplin, Scott,” Grove Music Online (October 16, 2013), accessed March 18, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002253061. 
  2. Larry C. Melton, “Sedalia’s Ragtime Heritage,” The Sedalia Heritage Foundation, 3, accessed March 18, 2021, https://www.scottjoplin.org/joplin-biography.html.
  3. Ibid.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Edward A. Berlin, “Joplin, Scott,” Grove Music Online (October 16, 2013), accessed March 18, 2021, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-1002253061.

Cut IDs

14940 43538 18187 22880