Scott Joplin's New Rag (1912) unrehearsed piano duet

[elPacaManca]

This one was just too cacophonous.

[1truffle]

im louder ! no im louder !

[Morahman7vnNo2]

It's not the tempo that bothers me as much as the Forte to Fortissimo! Can hardly hear any embellishments, sounds like they're both in each others way, and almost sounds like their locked in an Apache Dance.

[BachScholar]

Ron, this is a perfect example of a fast piece that is just too fast and hectic sounding. All they are thinking about is speed and nothing else. I am about to record my version that is significantly slower but much better musically. I do not play it "slow", but rags need not be lightening fast to be peppy sounding. They totally ruin this rag the way they play it. I disagree with all the commenters. This is bad piano playing at its finest.

[Keeper1st]

If all they were thinking about were speed, this would be faster than it is but with less embellishment (wait for the 3 Pianos on Fire set's Dill Pickles, when Tom and Pat turn it into a speed cutting contest at the end while poor Frederick tries his best to keep up). This certainly isn't as clean as their "Efficiency Rag" played moments earlier (which also is posted). This one does get a bit too hectic at times, sure. The main concern though is simply having fun (this is at a party after all).

[moonwalker1984]

WoW!! amazing! Great Job!! ;-D

[lilataubenei]

you are doing very professional, one only have heard it this way, i think, too often in toons. .. but this might be a problem of the reception of today.

did anyone thought about the fact, that there was real cocaine in coca-cola during that time? i think until 1907....ok, new rag was composed 1912, but i think, it was less stigmatisated as today (if one could say so) and this speedy, hectic playing was a desired effect of audience and piano players. and, sorry, they had cocaine and alcohol...

[pianomike1]

Excellent, but did they have to catch the last bus? How else explain that no mercy, no prisoners tempo? LOL

[Keeper1st]

The score is marked "allegro moderato", which is about this, bearing in mind that the melody is in 16th notes, thus moves quite fast compared to the moderately fast bass line. (Listen to the rate of the bass notes and you realize it really isn't all that fast.) This isn't an uncommon tempo on period recordings of ragtime, either. It's remarkable how quickly the music really was played back in the day.

[pianomike1]

Thanks for the comment, appreciate it. Where as the party held? Must have been an important do that such greats agreed to play. Cheers.

[Keeper1st]

This was at a residence in Sutter Creek, California, at around midnight Saturday during the weekend of the 10th annual Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival. For several hours after the festival officially wraps up for the day, musicians continue to play and improvise together like this, both in the festival venues and at this nearby house.

[brandon10175]

wait what? that for prisioners?

[tandrade1971]

Brier is as brilliant as ever! And I've heard him play for at least the last 25 years!

[steinwaygrande1]

Remeber this was an unrehearsed piano duet, and to be fair when its unrehearsed and being played for the first time, of course there are bound to be margins of error. Give it time and it will be come really good when they iron out a few bugs.And I doubt that this was a rehearsal

[Keeper1st]

Yeah, and they never lose the melody. Being a piano duet, of course there are a lot of extra notes added, same as a band arrangement would have. This is a very typical and authentic ragtime performance -- the sort of thing you might have heard at rent parties 100 years ago.

[BachScholar]

Is it just my imagination, or does this seem like an endless bunch of fast notes and chords strung together? I sure hope they would have fixed that in a rehearsal.