Tag Archives: ragtime

Bethena: A Concert Waltz – Scott Joplin for KJSB

I’m sharing my adaptation and arrangement for intermediate string ensemble of Scott Joplin’s hauntingly beautiful concert waltz Bethena. I’ve attempted to arrange this piece twice previously, once for KJSB 1.0 back in 2020, and then again in 2022. Each of these previous attempts suffered from fatal flaws.

This most recent version received multiple thumbs ups from the 7th, 8th and 9th grade strings students in Knights of Jazz String Band — a very tough crowd. So, third time’s the charm and it seems I’ve got something going with this version!

In this arrangement I managed to deploy a classic Ragtime/early jazz device for modulation between keys to make it sound like there is movement to a distant key for the B section, when in fact it stays in the original key! I again use sleight of hand to “modulate” back to the original key for a recap of the A melody.

Download the arrangement

Proto Jazz

Library of Congress has a nice article on Ragtime that raises the fascinating topic of of polyrhythm as both African inspired but also found in the jigs and reels played by immigrants from the British Isles in the Appalachian regions of the US South. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200035811

The wiki entry on Contradanze/Habanera is also a very interesting read, on the Afro-Cuban origins of proto-jazz styles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contradanza

Another interesting musical form of proto jazz is the “Cakewalk”. Need to read more about this!

Popular Music at the World’s Columbian Exposition — 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago

The Library of Congress has a great description of the music scene at the World’s Fair. Dvorak was there conducting, Sousa was there leading his band. Will Marion Cook (later Duke Ellington’s mentor), and Joseph Douglass (grandson of Frederick Douglass) performed. Scott Joplin, then living and working in Chicago likely played ragtime in one or more of the numerous saloons and cafes along the outskirts of the fair.

25 million visitors from hundreds of countries soaked it all in, and carried the new popular musical styles home across the US and abroad.