Complete Works of Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 30, 1993)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Delta
• ASIN: B000001VY0
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,391 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Please Say You Will, song for voice & piano

2. A Picture of Her Face, song for voice & piano

3. Feria quinta

4. Harmony Club Waltz, for piano

5. Combination March, for piano

6. Original Rags for piano

7. Maple Leaf Rag, for piano

8. Swipesy, cake walk for piano (collaboration with Arthur Marshall)

9. Sunflower Slow Drag, ragtime two-step for piano (collaboration with Sco

10. Peacherine Rag, for piano

11. The Augustan Club Waltzes, for piano

12. The Easy Winners, for piano

13. Cleopha, march & two-step for piano

14. The Strenuous Life, rag for piano

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One disc of a larger set, December 15, 2003

By 

"Gimpy" Peach Johnson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Works of Scott Joplin (Audio CD)

Let's clear up something here that Amazon and LaserLight have not--this disc DOES NOT contain the complete works of Scott Joplin. This is just one disc from a set of five that LaserLight put out containing the complete published piano music of Scott Joplin played by Richard Zimmerman. Unfortunately, LaserLight has not numbered the five discs in the set, so each one purports to contain the "complete" works. Very poor organization. (Besides Joplin wrote more than piano music... no Joplin set should be considered "complete" without a full recording of his opera "Treemonisha.")

The playing on this disc is fairly good-I've seen Richard Zimmerman perform in person and he's certainly capable of playing ragtime well-but by no means are the recordings here the best interpretation of Joplin's music. Sometimes I feel Zimmerman plays too fast, at other times it sounds jerky, and at other times wrong notes are painfully obvious. Additionally, the sound quality varies from track to track, with some being marred by heavy tape hiss or distortion. These were originally recorded for budget LP's label back in the 1970s (I've seen them on Olympic and Murray Hill labels) and LaserLight has not done much to improve the sound quality. The music's there, and for casual listening on a boombox or car stereo, one might not notice the technical flaws, but on a good stereo system, they significantly detract from the overall listening experience.

If you're in the market for Joplin's music, you'd do yourself a favor to ignore this disc (even if the price is inviting) and invest in a better set like Joshua Rifkin's Joplin CD or William Albright's Joplin 2-CD set. Pianist Scott Kirby is currently releasing a complete Joplin set in four volumes, and I'd highly recommened looking into getting those before buying this disc.

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy music, good execution, April 14, 2011

By 

Dalmo - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Works of Scott Joplin (Audio CD)

Listening to Scott Joplin is similar to listening Mozart: you will be happier than you were the moment before you started the CD player.

A great recording, very well played, a glad melody, and an clean interpretation that makes one drive in peace, and get out of the car ... smiling!

If you don't find it new, purchase an used one. It is worth it!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Complete Works, 14 tracks? No way!, November 25, 2003

By 

Michael Rothermel "TreeMonkey.net" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Works of Scott Joplin (Audio CD)

A CD purporting to be Joplin's complete works would certainly have more than 14 tracks. Instead try "The Complete Piano Music Of Scott Joplin," AISN B000003QWN; four disks containing 52 tracks! I think this would be far more likely to be his "complete works" though I think even this one must be leaving out some of the compositions of this prolific ragtime composer. I know for a fact 14 songs wouldn't be his complete... anything! If you just want an introduction to his music, this CD may be all the Joplin you need, but be sure to rub out the word "complete" when your CD arrives. :)