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Complete Piano Music [Box set]

John Arpin Audio CD
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)

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Frequently Bought Together

Complete Piano Music + Piano Rags + Rags to Riches
Price for all three: $31.63

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  • Piano Rags $12.66
  • Rags to Riches $4.99


Product Details

  • Audio CD (January 28, 1997)
  • Number of Discs: 4
  • Format: Box set
  • Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
  • Label: Compendia
  • ASIN: B000003QWN
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,451 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Disc: 1
1. The Crush Collision March
2. Combination March
3. Harmony Club Waltz
4. Original Rags
5. Maple Leaf Rag
See all 13 tracks on this disc
Disc: 2
1. The Entertainer
2. The Strenouous Life
3. March Majestic
4. Something Doing
5. Weaping Willow
See all 13 tracks on this disc
Disc: 3
1. Leola
2. Eugenia
3. Antoinette
4. The Ragtime Dance
5. Searchlight Rag
See all 13 tracks on this disc
Disc: 4
1. Wall Street Rag (1909)
2. Solace (1909)
3. Pleasant Moments (1909)
4. Country Club (1909)
5. Euphonic Moments (1909)
See all 13 tracks on this disc

Customer Reviews

All things considered, I'm very happy with this set. "Gimpy" Peach Johnson  |  3 reviewers made a similar statement
I enjoyed listening to this very much. Kurt Sprague  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
97 of 98 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Watch out, Rifkin! January 15, 2004
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is by far the best "budget" complete Joplin set I've ever come across. It's far superior to the Dick Zimmerman Laserlight set I have (which costs about three times as much!), and it's certainly better than those cheap sets that crop up in the bargain bins at Best Buy which feature poorly-recorded piano roll versions of these pieces. Each of the four CD's in this set runs about an hour, and each has 12-13 selections: rags, waltzes, and marches by Scott Joplin. Overall, I like the way Arpin plays these pieces. With very few exceptions, the tempos are good (not too fast), and personally, I'm not offended by Arpin's own embellishments. Within reasonable limits, I like to hear performers interpret music and make it "their own." I've played over two dozen Joplin rags myself, and find myself adding little grace notes, slightly changing a rhythm here or there, or adding other embellishments to avoid playing a piece exactly the same way every time I play it, otherwise, it can get boring after a while. Naturally, I limit my "additions" when performing this music for others unfamiliar with Joplin's rags, more as Joplin would have had it. This Arpin set, with all of his embellishments, therefore is especially good for someone who already owns a more straightforward recording of these pieces and who wishes to hear them played with a slightly different approach. For the Joplin newcomer, this is a good first set, but be aware when listening that Arpin has taken some liberties with the music--in most cases, it's not *exactly* as Joplin wrote it. Technically, the recording itself is very good. The piano has a nice "on stage" sound to it, but it's not lost in reverb. Each note is very clear, and the piano has a natural sounding balance. All things considered, I'm very happy with this set.... Read more ›
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67 of 69 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Ad-libs Galore! September 22, 2004
Format:Audio CD
If you're a fledgling Joplin listener/player...don't buy this set. Instead, buy the Joshua Rifkin disc. The reason I say this is because Rifkin plays the pieces as written. You can follow along verbatim on the written page. This collection is full of ad-libs and ornaments. There are few consistent tempos throughout a piece. John Arpin is obviously full of energy and freedom of expression, but he strays too far away from the notes as written by the master. There's nothing wrong with playing Joplin's music that way (I ab-lib when playing "Maple Leaf Rag"), but I think it's unfair to bias people with your interpretation until they have properly heard the piece played as written.

Pros of this set:

-it is a complete collection of Joplin's rags

-"Bethena" is beautiful (but, it is hard to screw that one up)

Cons:

-No music from "Treemonisha" (Joplin's opera). The Rifkin set doesn't offer any music from the opera either.

-The bass drowns out the melody lines in many of the pieces.
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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Arpin's Joplin is superb. November 15, 2004
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
A couple of years ago a friend posted me a tape of many players at a ragtime festival. One stood out for many reasons - John Arpin playing a piece by Hal Isbitz. Ever since I have meant to acquire more of this man's recordings but have only just got around to it.

In hearing Arpin I experienced the same effect I perceived when I first heard Angela Hewitt play the Forty-eight. They both have a very wide range within every pianistic effect. Detached through to legato, loud through to soft, sustained to crisp. Each puts this ability to work in slightly different ways, of course. Hewitt uses it to delineate voices and impart individual character to each piece while Arpin uses it more within each number, in combination with a judiciously applied and delightful elasticity of tempo. Although I have been playing many of these rags for years myself, I felt I was suddenly hearing them in colour instead of in black and white.

Arpin does add embellishments but they are quite in character and are neither intrusive nor excessive. Often they comprise rolling of octaves, substitution of thirds for single notes and insertion of the odd broken chord, but not in the same way each time. The bending of tempo (I don't think rubato is quite the correct word for what he does) is bound to annoy those who like their ragtime in strict piano-roll style, but personally I am inclined to be flexible. I never play classical pieces or my own works the same way from one day to the next and I do not expect a master professional to do so.

The quality of the recording is generally excellent. On a few occasions I found the treble notes a bit dull and in a couple of parts I heard odd high frequencies, which I assume were sympathetic vibrations of some sort produced during recording.
... Read more ›
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Arpin Interprets Joplin December 28, 2002
By A Customer
Format:Audio CD
This is a wonderful collection, all of Joplin's works on 4 CDs. Included here are his non-rag compositions, which are omitted from many smaller Joplin collections. Also here are his lesser rags, those that are not popularly or musically successful and will not often be listened to. But they are not without historical and musical interest, and belong in the library of any serious Joplin or ragtime devotee. Arpin's execution is generally good. He follows the proper tempo in most instances, does not overuse the pedal, and has good gain between the soft and the emphatic passages. But there are negatives to his playing. In some instances the tempo is off, generally on the fast side (his execution of Maple Leaf leaves one breathless), but sometimes too slow. But these variations are usually within permissible ranges. More objectionable are Arpin's embellishments. Joplin's admonition to play the music as written is universally ignored, and not without reason. One can become jaded from the repetitions and reprises unless an occasional bar (or even an entire strain) is played an octave higher for an echo effect, or a trill is inserted here and there. But Arpin carries this improvisation much too far. He is addicted to the trill, which appears in the most unlikely places. And Swipesy, a piece surely meant to be simple and straightforward, is given so many filigrees that it is barely recognizable. Simpler is not always better in ragtime, but Arkin too often buries the essence of the music under excessive ornamentation. And much as we all love Maple Leaf, the unwritten repeats drag it out much too long; the time would have been better filled by playing the strains, as actually written, more slowly.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars More Arpin than Joplin
I got the set as a gift, and after listening to the first cd for about 20 minutes I came to think of the day some 8-10 years ago when I was looking for a complete Joplin set, and I... Read more
Published 26 days ago by Per Salling
5.0 out of 5 stars Joplin at its best
If you're a ragtime fan, there's none better than Scott Joplin. And John Arpin skips over the ivories easily. Great easy listening and toe-tapping favorites. Can't do better! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Alan R. Wile
1.0 out of 5 stars Over-Embellished
I bought this CD with the intent of using it as an audio reference to the sheet music in the book of the same name. Read more
Published 4 months ago by David M. Baker
5.0 out of 5 stars Euphonic Sounds
The late John Arpin recorded this box set, which includes Scott Joplin's marches and waltzes in addition to his classic rags. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Keith C.
5.0 out of 5 stars My Favorite Album Set!
I listen to classical, rock, pop. I find myself playing John Arpin's music more than any other. Thoroughly enjoyable! I will be looking for more John Arpin CDs. Read more
Published 13 months ago by P. Huber
4.0 out of 5 stars Great music, great deal for the money.
If you're interested in Ragtime music and Scott Joplin in particular, this is an excellent buy, considering the amount of material included. Read more
Published 14 months ago by L. Carr
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to dance to
Arpin does not quite get that ragtime is dance music, so most of the tracks do not keep that two-step beat steady enough to dance to -- I know, we've tried to dance to it -- my GF... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Eloi
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow !
A certain tune snags your interest - you can't ignore it, you have to buy it. The hook for me was Gladiolus Rag, played by Joshua Rifkin. Read more
Published on February 1, 2011 by George F.
1.0 out of 5 stars The Complete Piano Music of Scott Joplin
I have one word to say if you are considering buying this set-DON'T! The performer, John Arpin, has absolutely no style or feel for ragtime whatsoever. Read more
Published on December 14, 2010 by smithcahoon
4.0 out of 5 stars The Best in a Not Very Crowded Field
This is a very good complete collection of Scott Joplin's rags (plus some other incidental Joplin music). All the rags are here. Read more
Published on December 13, 2010 by Richard Wirtz
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