Review

Various
Great American Rags Volume 2:

Arranged by Terry L. Baldridge


Vancouver, BC, Canada
Publisher: Cherry Classics Music
Date of Publication: 2022
URL: http://www.cherryclassics.com

Score and parts

Primary Genre: Solo Tenor Trombone - with piano

These pieces, all composed between 1902 and 1910, are unsurprisingly similar in style, and all are marked at Allegro. Trombone parts are given in bass clef, topping out in all four selections at g1. In the first three selections much use is made of 16th note groupings; in the fourth piece the shortest notes are 8ths. There are relatively few large intervals in any selection. The trombone part in the first has no rest measures; the others have 16, 8, and 21 respectively. There are no significant difficulties in the piano part; the greatest chord-span required is an octave. Each selection plays for about three minutes.

Hilarity Rag (1910) in F and Kansas City Rag (1907) in B-flat by James Scott. James Sylvester Scott 1885-1938, born in Neosho, Missouri, is regarded as one of the ‘big3’ ragtime composers with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb. He was a teacher, theatre organist, and bandleader. Both of these selections are characterized by much use of 16th notes, frequently, of course, in syncopation. The trombone part in Hilarity Rag has no full rest measures; Kansas City is a bit more restful, with 16 of them (4 at the beginning).

Sunflower Tickle (1908) in E-flat by Percy Wenrich (1887sic - 1962). The date of birth given in the publication is incorrect. He was actually born in 1880 (see Wikipedia), and published his first piece, titled L’Inconnu, in 1897 when he was 17. He subsequently composed 11 musicals performed in New York between 1914 and 1930. This piece was originally published under the pseudonym Dolly Richmond, the only time he used it. This also has a 4-bar piano introduction, then it’s off to the races again with a lot of 16th notes.

Trombone Johnsen (1902) in B-flat/E-flat by E.J.Stark. Etilmon Justus Stark (1867 - 1962) was born in Indiana and grew up in Missouri. He was a military bandmaster and music teacher. Trombone Johnsen was his first publication. He subsequently made a fortune by publishing Scott Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag. This selection is harmonically the most adventurous of the set, with many accidentals in the melody. The shortest notes here are 8ths. I am unable to discover who Johnsen might have been.

This collection offers a view of a largely forgotten era in music, presenting four well-contrasted selections by three quite different composers, none of whom were previously known to this writer, nor I suspect, to many of you who will be reading this review. Good to have you back guys!

Terry Baldridge is Professor Emeritus at Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe, Kansas where he taught music from 1982 to 2016.