William Bolcom is a notable pianist and composer. Besides performing regularly, he has written a number of cantina songs, eight symphonies, and a number of works for piano, including the commissioned work for the 2005 Van Cliburn piano competition. Some of his more interesting compositions include his 22 piano rags, written between 1967 and 1993.
Reasons for Bolcom’s Interest in Rags
Bolcom was first impressed by Scott Joplin’s rags, and appreciated how Joplin was able to blend many different elements of American music and create rags. For Bolcom, ragtime was “a kind of music that I could relate to in every way.” (Waldo, 180) Bolcom’s interest in Joplin compelled him to kindle an interest for rags in the rest of the musical world, which at the time considered ragtime little more than salon music.
Collaborating with friend and fellow rag enthusiast William Albright, Bolcom began performing rags publicly, and made several recordings of “classic” rag composers’ compositions, even including some of his own rags. Bolcom was introduced to jazz great Eubie Blake, and learned much from Blake about rag and stride style during the course of their friendship. Bolcom ended up writing a rag for Blake, titled “Eubie’s Lucky Day.”
Characteristics of Bolcom’s Rags
Bolcom’s rags can be divided into three “periods.” The first seven rags are his experimental stage. These rags resemble Joplin’s, in that they stick mostly to the short, simple chord pattern, “classic” rag form. The next twelve rags show more of Bolcom’s own style. The harmonies become much more chromatic and colorful, and the rags become longer, to the point that Bolcom titles The Serpent’s Kiss a “rag fantasy.” Bolcom’s last three rags return to the classic form.
Bolcom uses several different styles for his rags. Many are written in stride style, the left hand keeping a steady “oom-pah” beat while the right hand syncopates rhythms. Old Adam is a chicken scratch, named for the dotted rhythms which imitate the jerky movements of chickens. Cakewalks, two-steps and slow drags are other popular rag forms that Bolcom frequently employs, Through Eden’s Gates, Epitaph for Louis Chauvin, and Tabby Cat Walk being only a few of these.
Chronological List of Bolcom’s Rags:
Three Classic Rags (1967)
Glad Rag
Epitaph for Louis Chauvin
Incineratorag
Seabiscuits Rag
Tabby Cat Walk(1968)
California Porcupine Rag
Last Rag
Eubie's Lucky Day(1969)
Lost Lady Rag
Garden of Eden Suite:
Old Adam
The Eternal Feminine
The Serpent's Kiss
Through Eden's Gates
The Gardenia(1970)
Rag-Tango(1971)
Knight Hubert
3 Ghost Rags:
Graceful Ghost Rag
The Poltergeist
Dream Shadows
Raggin' Rudi (1974)
Fields of Flowers Rag(1977)
Epithalamium (1993)
Bolcom’s most interesting rags are The Serpent’s Kiss and The Poltergeist. Serpent’s Kiss uses several unique methods to emphasize the characteristic syncopation of ragtime. Bolcom has the pianist tapping the piano, clicking their tongue, and stamping their foot as different ways of showing stoptime. The Poltergeist requires the pianist to use their forearm several times to play clusters of notes. They are unmistakably rags, but from a fresh perspective!
If Bolcom’s attempt to re-popularize ragtime was a success, why did he write his last rag in 1993? Bolcom says it was because he’d done what he set out to do: he’d reintroduced ragtime to the classical world, and shown that although it might be more lighthearted than some classical music, it was still music worthy of a concert hall.
Sources:
Waldo, Terry. This is Ragtime.
Interview with Yeung Yu, Doctorate student.
Listen to Bolcom’s rags, performed by John Murphy
