Scott Joplin, 1867-1917: King of Ragtime Music

Joplin wrote 60 musical works during the early 1900s. Many of them are still popular today. Transcript of radio broadcast:

23 January 2010

VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about the life and work of one of America’s greatest music writers: Scott Joplin, the King of Ragtime.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

That song is called “Maple Leaf Rag.” Scott Joplin wrote it more than one hundred years ago. The song changed Joplin’s life. It was very popular. The composer earned a good living from the sales of the sheet music. He also became famous.

But, even today, much about Scott Joplin remains a mystery. There is conflicting information about the most basic facts, like when and where he was born. Official population documents suggest Scott Joplin was born in eighteen sixty-seven and eighteen sixty-eight. He was born in Texas, probably near the border with Arkansas. The Joplins moved to Texarkana, Texas sometime after eighteen seventy-five and Scott grew up there.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Scott was the second of seven children born to Giles and Florence Joplin. His father was a freed slave who worked on the railroad. His mother cleaned people’s homes.

The whole Joplin family was musical. Scott’s father played the violin. His mother played the banjo. And all the Joplins enjoyed singing together at home.