John Stark, Scott Joplin's publisher, in advertising promoting The Cascades, wrote, "It is as high-class as Chopin..." [1]. Considering the source (that is, Stark), was this merely an opinion that the rag sounded "Chopinesque" or could Stark have known more?
Could it be that Stark knew that a specific work by Chopin had inspired Joplin?
Even before I had read of Stark's allusion to Chopin, I had been practicing the second theme of The Cascades and was struck by the manner in which the melody descending over two octaves on the "white keys" reminded me of a theme from another piece I had previously praciticed: the second theme of Chopin's Ballade No.2 in F Major, Op.38. Intrigued, I looked for other similarities and found several.
Both works have a programatic theme involving water.
In the introduction to the Schirmer edition of the Ballades, James Huneker writes that Chopin's inspiration for the work was a poem by Mickiewicz, "Le Lac des Willis" [2]. Whether that was true or not, the feeling of waves crashing and receding in the second theme seems undeniable.
In each work, the second and final themes begin with a similar structure to the corresponding theme of the other work and between these themes in each work is another similarly structured theme.
The second theme of The Cascades, descending over two octaves, is similar to the right hand of the second theme of the Ballade which descends over three octaves. The final theme of each work begins with a right hand pattern of rapid repetition of chords in a syncopated rhythm. (In fact, parts of Chopin's theme here could even be considered ragtime.) Between these two themes in each work there is a theme structured as octave chords playing a melody in the right hand against runs of 16ths in the left hand.
Between any two pieces of music some similarity could probably be found but it seems to me that there is more here than could be due to mere chance. And Stark did make the Chopin comparison to this particular rag. The similarities are programatic, sequential, structural and rhythmic, not melodic or harmonic, and the two works really do not sound anything alike but this would be expected. Joplin would not have wanted to be accused of either plagiarizing or "ragging" Chopin and was adept at composing his own themes. Perhaps after hearing a performance of the Ballade and/or studying the music himself he had been inspired by Chopin's techniques.
[1 ] Edward A. Berlin, King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era (New York: Oxford University Press, 1994), page 137.
[2] Rafael Joseffy, Chopin Ballades for the Piano (New York: G. Schirmer, Inc., 1916), page iv.
I once presented this theory to Edward Berlin, the above author. He had access to records of concert performances by Stark's daughter, Eleanor, who was a concert pianist and who knew and encouraged Joplin. Berlin did not find any record of a performance of this Chopin piece. His final opinion was that he did not think that the two works were similar enough to say that there was a connection.
I just wanted to post this here for any comments.
Joplin inspired by Chopin?
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