Review

Scott Joplin
Four Rags:

Arranged by Ralph Sauer

Bass trombone and piano

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2020
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and solo part.

Primary Genre: Solo Bass/Contrabass Trombone - with piano

Ragtime music occupies an important place in the history of American music. Born out of a fusing of African and European musical building blocks, its composers, many of them African Americans, laid the groundwork for the jazz forms whose popularity would explode in the early part of the 20th century. Scott Joplin (1868-1917) is perhaps the best known of the ragtime composers, though he composed in other genres, such as opera, and his music remains popular today. His piano rags have been arranged for a variety of instrumental combinations through the years. Retired Los Angeles Philharmonic Principal Trombonist Ralph Sauer, a prolific and accomplished arranger, has taken four of Joplin’s pieces and has set them for tuba or bass trombone and piano.

Four Rags consists of The Entertainer, Reflection Rag, Pleasant Moments, and The Cascades, composed between 1902 and 1917. They can be performed as a suite or as individual pieces. While all clearly display the rhythmic and harmonic traits of ragtime music, they also display an amount of variety we don’t always associate with the genre. Sauer uses non-specific tempo markings for the movements: “Not Fast,” “Slow March Tempo,” “Slow Waltz Time,” and “Tempo di Marcia” respectively, that allow the performer to find tempi that suite both their technique and the stylistic traits of each movement. The jaunty syncopations and 2/4 meter of the first and second movements will likely easily fit most listeners’ concept of ragtime music. The third movement, Pleasant Moments, is a slow and elegant waltz with more opportunities for a singing style than the other rags. The final movement is the most virtuosic of the four, featuring more extensive passages of sixteenth notes than the other movements.

For a bass trombonist, the range is generally friendly. The highest note is g-flat1 with an optional 8vb part written below. The lowest note is pedal FF. Generally, though, the piece lies in the trigger register and in the staff or just above. A light and bouncy approach is required to achieve a characteristic ragtime feel in the first, second, and fourth movements, while a singing approach, that still includes syncopations, is needed for the third movement. As has become standard in Cherry Classics publications, both solo part and piano score are well-marked, neatly laid out, and easy to read.

Ralph Sauer has created another good arrangement that fulfills a variety of purposes. It can bring stylistic variety to recitals while also showcasing the music of an important composer of color.