May F. Aufderheide: Complete Rags (Ragtime)
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- Опубликовано: 25 июл 2024
- Born May 21st, 1888 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Ms. May Aufderheide would become perhaps the most famous women to ever pen rags both during her time period & even to this day! As a part of a more prestigious mere-musical family than most with her father John Aufderheide as a gifted violinist & her Aunt Kolmer a talented pianist, there was no doubt May would soon pick up a taste for music of her own.
During her early teens, May had taken classical piano lessons from her Aunt Kolmer & was even taken on the traditional European "Grand Tour" in order to study and expand upon Art Music (Think more of a "cultivated" & advanced sense of style.) Yet despite this heavy grounding into the studies, May had her attention caught by perhaps a more eye-catching style of play, to irresistible for her to resist: Ragtime. In fact, before ever leaving to study abroad in Europe refined music, May was so determined to join the ever-growing Ragtime craze that she had her first work "Dusty Rag" locally arranged with the help of future composer Paul Pratt, and published by then sign painter, Cecil Crabb. Yet with Crabb only having access to publish in Indianapolis, the rag had only collected dust itself in local stores.
Upon her return from Europe in 1908, May married young architect Thomas Millikan Kaufman & moved to Richmond, Indiana where she would continue to expand on her desire to write rags. By this time, Dusty Rag had began slowly yet steadily picking up sales, indicating to May's father she was capable of pursuing rag composition. Because of this, he formed J.H. Aufderheide & Company to publish her works on a greater scale, buying the copyright to Dusty and reissuing it under his label and soon after releasing "Richmond Rag," marking the beginning of her career.
Hiring Paul Pratt to manage the label, John's company was successful enough to garner column space in the American Musician and Art Journal in the summer of 1909. From there, he was able to place a large ad in the journal with a picture of May, informing the readers to "keep your eye (and ears)" on her, touting May as a composer with a future with two more pieces that were sure to be hits. That same year, those pieces would become known as "The Thriller" & "Buzzer Rag" with Thriller becoming her best known work.
Despite the label releasing quite a few works from other composers of the time including Pratt & two of May's acquaintances, the fortunes had begun to dry up after May's last published rag "Novelty Rag" in 1911. By 1912 due to a lack of any major hits after "Buzzer" from 1909, the motivation & interest to continue forward with the company was dropped by all parties, even by May herself after the only work published by the label by then was a song cover of "Dusty" that only proved to fare poorly. Even if the company had held itself together for another year, May's now rocky marriage would prove to keep her to occupied to write any further, promptly marking the end of her career and discouraging her to continue her passion of writing well-crafted rags.
In 1911, May & her husband had already moved back to Indianapolis because of his inability to retain work in the architecture field, desperately in search for better income prospects. Only proving to slowly decline in stability as a alcoholic, Kaufman had ultimately failed to become architect either in Richmond or Indianapolis, reluctantly finding himself working for John in the banking business as a broker around 1916. Despite now upcoming with abundant financial security, his marriage to May reportedly remained strained.
As for May, the 1920 enumeration shows her as having no occupation, not even as teaching music, a field now left long behind her. In 1922 she's become tangled within attempting to start a family with adoptive daughter Lucy Kaufman, after their original baby boy had died a day after birth. By the 1930 census, it reports May to have stopped playing piano at home all together, attempting to live between her glorified past & her consistently draining family matters, disappearing effectively from the music industry & the public eye.
Biography is continued in the pinned comment below.
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Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Dusty Rag (1908)
0:02:15 - The Richmond Rag (1908)
0:04:41 - The Thriller Rag (1909)
0:07:14 - Buzzer Rag (1909)
0:10:31 - Blue Ribbon Rag (1910)
0:13:45 - A Totally Different Rag (1910)
0:17:36 - Novelty Rag (1911)
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Music composed by May F. Aufderheide & performed by Ethan Uslan, Marcus Schwarz, Bryan Wright & Virginia Eskin.
℗ 2004 Bryan Wright ℗ 2014 Bella Musica Edition ℗ Vanguard Classics
This video is solely for the purposes of compiling and sharing the music of May F. Aufderheide and in no way or means is being used for monetary purposes. 
Видеоклипы
*Continued biography from the description:*
Eventually moving altogether to Pasadena, California by 1947, the U.S. Census timeline from 1950 to 1960 tells us that both May & Thomas are left with no further occupation with May wheelchair bound for the rest of her life as a result of arthritis & similar issues. Over time, her father, husband & only child all pass by 1960, leaving May as a lone widow for the next 12 years, where after a chaotic series of several strokes she would pass at the age of 84 on September 1st, 1972.
Despite having a hay-day career cut short due to financial flocks & family matters, May Aufderheide's rags remain among the most popular of those composed by women during the ragtime era and continue to shine to this day through annual Ragtime venues, festivals, concerts & more. From the dust to performance halls, May's legacy in showcasing women's ability to compete within the Ragtime world is truly one to remember across the ages.
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Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Dusty Rag (1908)
0:02:15 - The Richmond Rag (1908)
0:04:41 - The Thriller Rag (1909)
0:07:14 - Buzzer Rag (1909)
0:10:31 - Blue Ribbon Rag (1910)
0:13:45 - A Totally Different Rag (1910)
0:17:36 - Novelty Rag (1911)
A somewhat depressing biography. I take hope that ragtime piano brought her lots of joy, but it sounds that even the joy of that fizzed out at some point
@@coxandrewj Unfortunately a common fate for many composers just like her/of a similar background. 😔
Suppose only a few really got a "happy ending" when it was all said and done, yet I can imagine that Ragtime gave her quite some joy when she was still invested into the music. 😌
She’s great. Did I read somewhere of a sister or cousin (same family name) who penned a few rags? Not sure where I saw the reference.
@@wertherquartett Ah yes, you are correct! Ms. May Aufderheide had a cousin named Ms. Frieda Aufderhiede, a fellow composer most notably known for her piece "The Flyer" from 1908. She was also known to have written a number of rsgs including a waltz, among other fine works. 😌
Aufderheide had the most beautiful ragged pieces, in my opinion. She was something else.
Honestly, she was quite phenomenal during her time & even afterwards.✨
How I do love The Richmond Rag❤
It is quite a charming work of art I must say! 😌🎹🎶🎶
She’s fantastic, thank you for bringing her to my attention ☺️👍
She's quite a gem ain't she? 😌
Your very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed her music. 😁
Struck me as non such an original rag composer.
The last one especially reminded me of Maple Leaf Rag and how ironic for its title to be Novelty Rag.
Suppose quite a number of composers around this time had taken melodies & influences from other works in order to incorporate it in their own ways. "Parody Rags" in a way. 😆
*She became 84 instead of 94
Ah you are correct! Thank you for pointing that out, I'm always prone to making small mistakes whenever I type out these bios, hehe.
Got it fixed now. 👍🏾
Gracias. Solo falta un cuadro de Toulouse.
De nada. Y sí, sólo uno. 😆
Where was Pickles and Peppers. 😢My all time favourite.
Haha, my apologies! Yet "Pickles and Peppers" is a work written by Ms. Adaline Shepard while this video in particular only covers Ms. May Aufderhiede. :]
Perhaps I will cover Ms. Shepard soon in the future! ✌🏾🌟
@@themajesticgeorge Yes that is correct. I should have double checked before leaving my comment rather than relied on my memory which obviously has some holes in it. Especially as I have played and posted my attempt at playing said piece.
@@BenBurrow Haha, it's all good! 🤣 I went through your channel and checked out a few of your posts playing the piano. I dare say that you are most certainly better than the 2 pieces I can play. 🤭
I’ve been trying to find Dusty Rag on Apple Music in the style is played but I can’t find it. The results that they show, they aren’t the best because either they are played slow or way too fast :(
Can you tell me which music platform can I find it by any chance?
Unfortunatley, I haven't been able to find or run into many piano versions of "Dusty Rag" that isn't played too slow or way to fast. However, I have been able to find a few arrangements by these groups/people:
The most "accurate" version in my opinion would be the one performed by Donald Beavers. As for him and the list of names below, you can search their name & "Dusty Rag" right next to it on the provided platforms to see if you are able to fetch anything. Hope it helps! :]
- [Piano Version] Donald Beavers (Pandora, Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, RUclips Music, etc.)
- [Piano Version] Leslie Bridges (Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer, RUclips Music, etc.
- [Piano Version] Ragged Rhythm Boys (Pandora)
- New Orleans Ragtime Orchestra (Pandora, Apple Music, SoundCloud, etc.)
- Bunk Johnson (Pandora, Spotify, Deezer, etc.)
Pssst, P.S., a lot of these covers can also be found on RUclips already uploaded so you can bypass the account creation doo-hickey on the platforms you don't have.