Solace and Other Short Works [Paperback]

Scott Joplin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 18, 2001

In addition to the title piece, a syncopated tango included in the soundtrack of the movie The Sting, this compilation features 10 other (mostly nonragtime) pieces: "Great Crush Collision," "Combination March," "Harmony Club Waltz," "Augustan Club Waltz," "March Majestic," "Bethena," "Rosebud," "Binks’ Waltz," "Antoinette," and "Lily Queen." Reproductions of original sheet-music covers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (April 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 048641681X
• ISBN-13: 978-0486416816
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,385,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not essential to ragtime, but insight into Joplin's heart., February 19, 2003

By 

William G. Edwards "Perfessor Bill" (Ashburn, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Solace and Other Short Works (Paperback)

In 1971 I first purchased the NYPL edition of the Collected Works (later Complete Works) of Scott Joplin. The first volume had all of his piano instrumentals, (plus 3 additional rags in the Complete works) save Frolic of the Bears from Treemonisha. It is now hard to find, and people have to scavange a bit to get a copy.

So now we have the next best thing - sort of. I wanted to give this book a better rating because of my admiration of the composer, much less my knowledge of his works through recording them all over the past few years for CD release. It is intended to balance out the alternate Dover title Complete Piano Rags. But in that regard there are still omissions. This book contains Joplin's Marches and Waltzes, as well as his single tango that the book is titled for and one collaborative rag (Lily Queen).

While these pieces are not quite piano rags or even ragtime (except Lily Queen, and arguable for Solace and Bethena) they do represent a balance for a disciplined composer who was serious not only about his work, but about making the ordinary into something much more.

But I have a question that I am not alone in asking. Between these two volumes, what about the missing pieces? We have to find another source for them now? These include Cleopha (A March), and The Chrysanthemum (of which many of us have had spirited discussions with editor Dave Jasen as to its rag vs.intermezzo status). Two pieces are hardly enough to create another volume, yet the Chrysanthemum in particular is so rich and enjoyable to play and listen to that this omission is frustrating indeed.

This consideration aside, if you don't have the NYPL edition, Solace is still worth having as a compliment to Complete Rags. And you can always come to my ragtime site to listen to the missing pieces if you want.