Description
Written in the wake of losing his wife, Freddie Alexander, in 1904, ten weeks after their marriage, this "concert waltz" of 1905 is among the most shadowed things Joplin produced. A portrait of a woman appears on the cover; who the title names has never been established.
Ragtime carried over into a waltz is a rare experiment: the syncopation stays, but the skipping drive of duple meter is gone. The music moves through key after key, travelling from a bright G major into darker sonorities and back again.
For all that it is a waltz, the right hand keeps landing off the beat, so this intermediate piece needs two things at once: the weight on the first beat that a waltz needs, and a right hand pulling away from it. Played quickly it becomes merely a waltz, and the shadow in it never appears.
Ragtime pieces centered on Scott Joplin's syncopated rhythms — a lively American genre that helped pave the way for jazz.
Browse all songs in Ragtime →Sheet Music
Sheet music provided by Mutopia Project
About the Composer
Scott Joplin (1868-1917)
Scott Joplin was an African American composer born in Texas, known as the "King of Ragtime." Blending syncopated, buoyant rhythms with sophisticated harmony, he brought the genre to national prominence with the enormous success of "Maple Leaf Rag." This site includes 18 of his works, such as "The Entertainer" and "Elite Syncopations."
View all works by Joplin →