Maple Leaf Rag

With its graceful, richly embellished themes, Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag sparked a nationwide ragtime boom and made its composer a celebrity. The solo piano piece is believed to be named after the Maple Leaf Club in Sedalia, Missouri, the town where Joplin briefly resided during his years as a touring pianist. Maple Leaf Rag did not catch on at first, but after Sedalia music publisher John Stark heard Joplin perform it, he published it in 1899. The sheet music sold a modest 400 copies in its first year, but was said to have become the first piece of popular music to sell a million copies—a remarkable figure given its difficulty. Set in four strains without an introduction, the rag features a series of right-hand melodies that leap and scamper over a strutting bass in the left hand. It later entered the repertoires of jazz pianists including Jelly Roll Morton and James P. Johnson; its success allowed Joplin to quit touring and devote himself to teaching and composing.