A Cyclone In Darktown (1910)..George Daniel Barnard.

Barnard was better known in his day as a composer of band music, as far as I've been able to ascertain, this is his only ragtime composition and very good it is too. It was recorded by the Arthur Prior band in 1911 (see below).  

https://archive.org/details/Arthur_Pryors_Band-A_Cyclone_In_Darktown

The piano score was  written in Bb/Eb and I've set the banjo arrangement in C/F. I can't see what the rather non-PC cover picture has to do with the title but there it is. The score and midis are in the library..Steve.

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Now THERE's some gen-u-wine ragtime syncopation!

Arthur Pryor was a master. That is a fantastic arrangement. Wow, I would have loved to hear that one live!

Thanks Marc, it is a great rag considering it was composed by someone not usually associated with ragtime. I expect that Arthur Prior may have had a hand in it somewhere...Steve.

Trapdoor2 said:

Now THERE's some gen-u-wine ragtime syncopation!

Arthur Pryor was a master. That is a fantastic arrangement. Wow, I would have loved to hear that one live!

I found one, very slim reference that this rag was penned by Geo. Botsford instead of Mr. Barnard. Botsford wrote a LOT of rags and it really does sound a lot like something he could have written.

Another clue is that the title is twofold..."Cyclone in Darktown" and "Just Rags". Botsford experimented with "miniature operas" and either of the two titles might mean that one was the title of the opera and the other was the specific piece from it.

Pure speculation on my part, of course.

Mr. Pryor could indeed have helped out. He wrote some great stuff in his own right. I've always found it amusing that Sousa would decline to conduct for recordings (and have Pryor do it). His distain for "canned music" was legendary.

Marc, very interesting and it seems to fit....Steve. 

Trapdoor2 said:

I found one, very slim reference that this rag was penned by Geo. Botsford instead of Mr. Barnard. Botsford wrote a LOT of rags and it really does sound a lot like something he could have written.

Another clue is that the title is twofold..."Cyclone in Darktown" and "Just Rags". Botsford experimented with "miniature operas" and either of the two titles might mean that one was the title of the opera and the other was the specific piece from it.

Pure speculation on my part, of course.

Mr. Pryor could indeed have helped out. He wrote some great stuff in his own right. I've always found it amusing that Sousa would decline to conduct for recordings (and have Pryor do it). His distain for "canned music" was legendary.

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