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Biography: Life of
Scott Joplin
Born 1868, Died 1917
Scott Joplin, noted ragtime musician and composer, was born near Linden, Texas on November 24, 1868. The family later moved to Texarkana.
From an early age, Scott Joplin showed his talent for music. Joplin was proficient on the banjo and his mother worked to purchase a piano so that he could further his study of music. He received free piano lessons from Julius Weiss, who provided him with knowledge of classical music form.
Scott Joplin left home and spent several years traveling the Midwest where he played in saloons and brothels.
In 1894 Scott Joplin set up a home base in Sedalia, Missouri. In Sedalia he attended a black school, George R. Smith College, where he studied composition. To support himself he worked at the Maple Leaf Club. Scott Joplin sold his famous composition Maple Leaf Rag in 1899. Joplin received royalty payments for each copy of the piece that was sold. His composition of The Entertainer was published in 1902. Over his lifetime Joplin published over sixty compositions.
Joplin eventually moved to New York City where he wrote his ragtime opera Treemonisha. The opera was published in 1911.
In 1917 Scott Joplin was committed to Manhattan State Hospital suffering from the effects of syphilis which he had contracted years before. Scott Joplin died on April 1, 1917.
Scott Joplin did not receive the recognition he deserved as a composer until many years after his death. His music, notably The Entertainer, was featured in the 1973 movie The Sting. In 1976 this opera Treemonisha won a Pulitzer Prize.
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