The Passing Of Ragtime (1902)...Arthur Pryor.

[Steve Harrison]

This is a cleverly written piece of music with some unusual key changes. It starts as a traditional sounding 'barn dance' in G, it then changes to C minor for the linking passages and finishes in E flat as a good bit of ragtime. I get the impression that Pryor was trying to show how ragtime evolved, hence the unusual title.

I couldn't find a score so I changed the batteries in my hearing aids and worked from a midi transcript. I've banjofied it to make it all work but it's pretty close to the original. The first 2 sections in G would stand alone as a banjo solo in their own right.

The score and midi are in the library...Steve.

[Trapdoor2]

I like that one a lot, Steve. I've always enjoyed Mr. Pryor's music.

[Jody Stecher]

The first part sounds like a Cakewalk to me. "Barn Dance" seems to be an idea from your side of the Atlantic. In Ireland they have a tune type called Canadian Barn Dance that is unknown in Canada as far as I can tell. I get the feeling that in England "barn dance" may mean any tune suitable for the Virginia Reel steps. But part one of The Passing of Ragtime is not a Virginia Reel type of tune. The pace is too slow and the rhythms are are not characteristic. Makes a good cakewalk though.

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Jody, not having a score to look at, it was hard to estimate the right speed for this, the piano  midi is considerably faster than my arrangement midi which I set at an achievable playing speed for banjo. Using hammers on and pull offs and some melodic fingering, it is possible to play faster than my midi....Steve.

Jody Stecher said:

The first part sounds like a Cakewalk to me. "Barn Dance" seems to be an idea from your side of the Atlantic. In Ireland they have a tune type called Canadian Barn Dance that is unknown in Canada as far as I can tell. I get the feeling that in England "barn dance" may mean any tune suitable for the Virginia Reel steps. But part one of The Passing of Ragtime is not a Virginia Reel type of tune. The pace is too slow and the rhythms are are not characteristic. Makes a good cakewalk though.

[thereallyniceman]

After the discussions I have been looking for the original score for this piece to find out what it is supposed to be, and found a Russian website... all in Russian!  With the help of a shabby performance from Google Translate and a little précising by myself I came up with this:

 

It “sort of” makes sense that "passing" and "rag time" had another meanings as the “Passing” of Ragtime was hardly likely in 1902 when it was composed by Pryor, as Ragtime, as we know it, was only just becoming popular by then:

“The Passing of Rag Time”,  by Arthur Pryor

The original cake-walk, characteristic two step.

 

 

       This is a Russian edition of one of the first pieces of American ragtime (1902), The title can be interpreted as “strolling” in rag style (bouncing).

 

        Interestingly, the subtitle - The Original Cake-Walk – implies that in this case the words Rag Time mean only manner of execution (rather than the form of the composition), which is a characteristic of the early period of development of this style.

 

        Arthur Willard Pryor - American composer and conductor, became one of the so-called kings of ragtime 1900-1910.

 

         The cover shows a comical pair of Negrito cakewalk artists wearing traditional costumes and white gloves. Girl smiles to spectators, and the boy is dressed like an adult and is wearing a monocle.

 

        In the first section (the cake walk) the dancers walk in a humorous way to amuse others, occasionally with funny bouncing - this was passing in “rag time”.

 

         The Trio simulates a "wild African dance" with the subtitle African War Dance.

 

 

The bottom of the page shows 227 M.M.   I initially thought that this was the tempo... but, geeez, that would be VERY FAST  in 2/4 !

 

Attached is the piano score

[Steve Harrison]

Hi Ian, Well done for finding the score, a bit too late for me but it's nice to know I wasn't too far off. I love the African War dance title of the 3rd part. A Russian website as well, I can just picture a troop of Cossacks, all tanked up on vodka, dancing ragtime...Steve.

thereallyniceman said:

After the discussions I have been looking for the original score for this piece to find out what it is supposed to be, and found a Russian website... all in Russian!  With the help of a shabby performance from Google Translate and a little précising by myself I came up with this:

 

It “sort of” makes sense that "passing" and "rag time" had another meanings as the “Passing” of Ragtime was hardly likely in 1902 when it was composed by Pryor, as Ragtime, as we know it, was only just becoming popular by then:

“The Passing of Rag Time”,  by Arthur Pryor

The original cake-walk, characteristic two step.

 

 

       This is a Russian edition of one of the first pieces of American ragtime (1902), The title can be interpreted as “strolling” in rag style (bouncing).

 

        Interestingly, the subtitle - The Original Cake-Walk – implies that in this case the words Rag Time mean only manner of execution (rather than the form of the composition), which is a characteristic of the early period of development of this style.

 

        Arthur Willard Pryor (Arthur Willard Pryor) - American composer and conductor, became one of the so-called kings of ragtime 1900-1910.

 

         The cover shows a comical pair of Negrito cakewalk artists wearing traditional costumes and white gloves. Girl smiles to spectators, and the boy is dressed like an adult and is wearing a monocle.

 

        In the first section (the cake walk) the dancers walk in a humorous way to amuse others, occasionally with funny bouncing - this was passing in “rag time”.

 

         The Trio simulates a "wild African dance" with the subtitle African War Dance.

 

 

The bottom of the page shows 227 M.M.   I initially thought that this was the tempo... but, geeez, that would be VERY FAST  in 2/4 !

 

Attached is the piano score

[Trapdoor2]

Yah, I think the "passing" in this sense is more related to the French "pas" (step) as in "Pas de deux". English is such a  crazy language and meanings change and evolve very quickly. The interpretation may have been obvious in 1902...