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Monday, April 7, 2014

MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2014

QUOTE:
"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind,

  flight to the imagination, and life to everything."
AUTHOR: Plato
MEANING OF THE QUOTE:
“Music can highlight everything you do in life.”















COMPOSER
JOPLIN
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
Piano Tutor
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
Instrumental Arrangement
New England Conservatory

Ragtime Ensemble

Sunflower Slow Drag (1901) was a musical
collaboration between Scott Joplin and
the composer Scott Hayden
Scott Hayden
(Joplin was courting Hayden's widowed
sister-in-law Belle who became his first
wife). John Stillwell Stark, the publisher,
advertised it as "the twin

sister of the Maple Leaf"
maple leaf rag
because the music was nearly as
popular when it first appeared.
Sunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow Drag
Hayden, besides being a composer, was
known to be as capable a player as his
contemporary James Scott,
James Scott
while Joplin preferred composing and
teaching over performing. They were also
to later collaborate on another piece called
The Felicity Rag.
felicity rag
FELICITY RAG
Scott Joplin and
Scott Hayden, Composers
Cory Hall, Pianist
A "Slow Drag" was a type of popular dance
of the period, which was danced to
ragtime music, in the format:

Intro AABBA Trio Intro CCDD.
Sunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow Drag
It is thought that Hayden composed the
particularly difficult A and D sections while
Joplin contributed the pleasantly subdued

contrasting trio (and a few other

thematic touches).
Sunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow DragSunflower Slow Drag
The trio is distinguished by its softer dynamics,
pentatonic emphasis, and broader note range
while still managing to tie in some of the
patterns from the previous passages. At the
end of the piece the final D section is
intentionally slowed as it was traditional to 
do so for the finale of many cakewalks or 
drags of the time. The closing portion is 
remarkably close to that in the famous one 
from The Entertainer (1902).
the entertainer
In fact, the structures of the two pieces

are also similar; both with big, rhythmic
celebratory chords leading off the
second subject in both works.
sunflower slow drag
"This piece came to light during the high temperature of Scott Joplin's
courtship, and while he was touching the ground only in the highest
places, his geese were all swans, and Mississippi water tasted like honey-
dew...If there ever was a song without words this is that article; hold
your ear to the ground while someone plays it and you can hear
 Scott Joplin's heart beat."
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
Piano Duet Arrangement
sunflowers
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
Color Animation Score
Sunflowers on the Banks of the Seine by Gustave Caillebotte
Gustave Caillebotte: Sunflowers on the Banks of the Seine
SUNFLOWER SLOW DRAG
Tuba Duet
Opaskar, Peter. Arranger
From the Collection "Rags for Tuba Duet Vol.1 (Advanced)
LINKS

Vincent Van Gogh: Sunflowers
WHAT IS RAGTIME?
Excerpt from the Ken Burns
Documentary "Jazz"
"The Sunflower" in 1906 by Gustav Klimt. Oil on canvas.
Gustav Klimt: The Sunflower, 1906
GRANADA ADV. STRINGS
1.  ELEANOR RIGBY
INTRO. TO INSTRUMENTS
1.  KEYBOARD
a. ODE TO JOY (CONTINUED)
(using right and left hands together)


GRANADA BEG. STRINGS
1.  MAY/TWINKLE
2.  CIELITO LINDO
3.  CHARIOTS OF FIRE

HILLVIEW ORCHESTRA
1.  LAS MANANITAS I+II
2.  BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS
3.  21 GUNS