Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin Distributed by Pyramid Film & Video DC: PFP Produced by Amelia AndersonPC: ANDSNA Year published 1977 Grade Level: I Distributed on media: 1 videocassette (15 min.), 1/2 in.; 1 videocassette (u-matic) (15 min.), 3/4 in.; 1 film reel (15 min.), 16 mm. Color?Color Length: 15 MIN Library of Congress Registration 77-701111 Description: Presents the life and music of ragtime musician Scott Joplin, narrated by Eartha Kitt. Follows his discovery and initial success to the failure of his opera Treemonisha and his early death in poverty and obscurity. Includes examples of his music and excerpts from the posthumous performance of Treemonisha. Topics: American-Biography-Other-Than-Presidents; Blacks-In-Art-And-Music; Music-Instrumental; Music-Opera; Musicians-; Black-History-Biography; Black-History-Music

Scott Joplin, a young African-American musician, moves to Missouri and to make ends meet finds a job as a piano teacher. He befriends Louis Chauvin, and others, who plays piano in a brothel. One day his "Maple Leaf Rag" is heard by John Stark, a publisher of sheet music in St. Louis, who buys the rights to the composition and sells it.