Pianist Lara Downes has described ragtime as the “overture to the music of the 20th century.” The American composer Scott Joplin is often referred to as the “king of ragtime,” though he was classically trained and wrote other forms of music, including opera. Lara Downes’ new album of Scott Joplin’s music is titled “Reflections: Scott Joplin Reconsidered.” She joined “City Lights” via Zoom to talk about the recording and how it brought her to a deeper understanding of Joplin as a true alchemist of early 20th-century music.
Interview highlights:
The distinctive cultural moment of Joplin’s emergence:
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