Defining Ragtime Music: Historical and Typological Research
Ingeborg Harer · Studia Musicologica · 1997
Ragtime, which is always quickly associated with Scott Joplin or with turn-of-the-century piano music and described as syncopated music belonging to the prehistory of Jazz, turns out to become a musical genre of great diversity once a larger quantity of sources is examined. With the knowledge of its rich varieties and own unique history the procedure of defining Ragtime becomes complex. The concept of the present paper consists of three parts: 1. To gain historical knowledge about ragtime in order to establish a framework for analysis. In this respect not only the historical aspect of the music is of interest but the complete context of the music, its composers and time is to be kept in mind.