{"id":5,"date":"2015-09-14T16:25:30","date_gmt":"2015-09-14T16:25:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=5"},"modified":"2023-06-27T17:51:13","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:51:13","slug":"curios-news-and-chronicles-no-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=5","title":{"rendered":"Does Ragtime Cause Insanity?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In the first of RIPM\u2019s Curios, News, and Chronicles<\/i>, we are highlighting articles from Musical America<\/em> presenting conflicting views of the value and dangers of ragtime. As this new genre\u2019s popularity increased in the early 1900s, it became a hotbed of controversy. Was ragtime \u201cthe limit of musical idiocy and degeneracy\u201d or does it \u201cput a pleasing effect upon the listener\u201d? Please scroll down to the bottom of the page for the full story.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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The debate began in October of 1911 when\u00a0 Dr. Ludwig Brunner, professor at the Imperial Academy of Medical Research in Berlin, proclaimed that ragtime could ruin both health and sanity.<\/p>\n

\"BerlinDoctor\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"RagtimeDanceJoplinCover\"<\/a>[Musical America,<\/em> XIV, no. 23 (October 14, 1911): 127]<\/p>\n

Within a week,\u00a0on October 21, 1911, Harvard Professor Phillip Clapp apparently taking to heart Dr. Brunner\u2019s disparaging comments, responded with a defense of ragtime.<\/p>\n

\"HarvardProfessor\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"ragtime_review\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Musical America<\/em>, XIV no. 24 (October 21, 1911): 6]
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The following year, on March 16, 1912, the\u00a0Finnish composer Oskar Merikanto jumped into the fray, siding caustically with ragtime’s critics.<\/p>\n

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[Musical America<\/em>, XV no. 19 (March 16, 1912): 19]<\/p>\n

The debate raged on for several years, so much so in fact that this poem published on August 14, 1915 opens with a reference\u00a0to Dr. Brunner’s 1911 comments.<\/p>\n

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[Musical America<\/em>, Vol 22 No. 15 (August 14, 1915): 17.]<\/p>\n

Supporters and critics of ragtime continued to argue over its relative merits, eventually leading the public to enter the debate the following month, September 1915.<\/p>\n

\"PublicDebate\"<\/a>\"Lecon_de_Cake-Walk_-_L'Entree\"<\/p>\n

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[Christensen’s Ragtime Review I<\/em>, no. 9 (September, 1915): 24.]<\/p>\n

Here is historic footage of the Cakewalk, one of the\u00a0first forms\u00a0of ragtime,\u00a0performed in 1903 (media adapted from Library of Congress). Both this and the poem\u00a0above\u00a0carry with them the racial bias of\u00a0their\u00a0time. \u00a0A cautionary note:<\/strong> determine your views of ragtime\u2019s dangers before viewing. Our dear Finnish colleagues should particularly take this warning to heart.<\/p>\n

\nhttp:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/CakewalkExcerpt.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

The following is an excerpt of “Smoky Mokes” played by famous banjoists Fred Van Eps & Vess L. Ossman (1900).<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/King-of-the-Banjo-Smoky-Mokes-Excerpt.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

In closing, here is a video of the ragtime finale of\u00a0Scott Joplin’s opera Treemonisha.<\/em><\/p>\n