Maple Leaf Rag

The Anacrouse collection offers pianists, beginners and advanced alike, a wide choice of classical works from the Renaissance to the present day. It brings together major works of the repertoire as well as rarer pieces, and also offers transcriptions for piano solo or four hands, selected for their musical and educational interest. Each score, available individually, benefits from careful editorial work: a rigorously established musical text, clear and legible engraving, accompanied by a short biography of the composer and a note on the work.

The “Maple Leaf Rag” in A flat major is Scott Joplin’s most emblematic title, a true pillar of the American piano repertoire. For the pianist, this work offers excellent practice in syncopation, rhythmic independence between the two hands and the precision of the left-hand leaps characteristic of the “stride” style. It is an ideal piece for developing a sense of rhythm and steadiness of tempo while tackling a lively, joyful style.

Composed in 1899, the “Maple Leaf Rag” (named after the Maple Leaf Club in Missouri) propelled Scott Joplin to the rank of “King of Ragtime”. It was one of the first great successes in the history of music publishing, selling more than a million copies. Its sophisticated structure and modulations, bold for the time, proved that ragtime could be a form of art music, thus paving the way for the influence of jazz on classical music.