Fig Leaf Rag (1908) - Scott Joplin (With Score / Sheet Music)

Finding himself to be well-established in New York by 1908, it has been commonly said that the new atmosphere of the big city allowed Joplin to elevate his mission towards turning Ragtime into a respectable genre like never before. Through a new sense of musical inspiration, perhaps mainly influenced by his ever continuous hardships & woes (By this time, Chauvin had already passed away and Joplin's finances would begin to decline through his eager work creating the opera "Treemonisha"), Fig Leaf Rag would soon come into print as his most classically-complex Rag to ever be penned. Or better yet as many seasoned pianist of the past century liked to put it, this particular work being the most difficult Joplin Rag to both practice or perform!
Starting off with a simplistic Introduction, the A section jumps right into action through it's mainly chord based melody, offering a unique taste of chromaticism. The B section, following a typical pattern similarly found in Joplin's preceding works, implements a sudden interruption in measures 7 and 8, making the section alone a bit tricky to pass through with flowing grace due to the sudden octave change & back. The remarkable C section within itself proves well to be thoroughly engaging in its beauty, deeply ensconced in a chordal melody that soars across several octaves. And alas, the ever so engaging D sections concludes the rag through Fig Leaf's final complex chord structure. Almost as if the "final boss" between the fine work & the pianist in a way.
Considering the general public & society during the era, it is a wonder to how provocative the buying public may have found the cover to be, and whether it may have actually helped sales along the way! With the cover art in mind, a naked woman covering herself with only a Fig Leaf appears to be quite the unusual cover under the Stark firm, given Stark's rather staunch moral standings. Yet with his current office/residence in New York and his plant back in St. Louis, there is the possibility that one of his children running the show there had more to do with commissioning the cover image than he did. Perhaps even up against Stark's moral stance, the cover may have given him a chuckle at the time, if not induce a mere shrug.
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"Fig Leaf (A High Class Rag)" - Classic Piano Rag - Pattern: A A B B A Trio Trio D D
Music by Scott Joplin, Published by Stark Music Co. in 1908
Cover Artist: Carrie Russell
Music description provided & written by Bill Edwards
© 1998-2024 Bill Edwards
Music performed by Guido Nielsen with his album "Scott Joplin: The Complete Works (Rags, Waltzes & Songs)"
℗ 2000 Basta Audio-Visuals
Producer: Piet Schreuders
Music Publisher: Basta Music
Performer: Guido Nielsen

[@shawdywolf]

This rag is kinda hard to play, it has a lot of chords a little bit hard to play somewhat fast; but it is still beautiful, I love to listen to this rag cuz it is like from high class hehe

[@themajesticgeorge]

Haha, a tricky one for sure especially when trying to keep at a upbeat pace! Quite the beautiful one however indeed, truly fit for "high class" indeed. 😏