"Solace" is a 1909 habanera written by

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

Music

Though Joplin labeled the piece "a Mexican Serenade", its origins are more probably

Cuban Cuban or Cubans may refer to: Related to Cuba * of or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban Americ ...

, and it is considered to have a habanera (and

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

) rhythm in three of the four strains – something unique for a work by Joplin, although a brief habanera bass did appear in his previous composition of that year, " Wall Street Rag". "Solace" is marked "very slow

march March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

time", and while it is difficult to determine the intended speed, it has been played andante (around ♪112). The first two strains have a

key signature In Western musical notation, a key signature is a set of sharp (), flat (), or rarely, natural () symbols placed on the staff at the beginning of a section of music. The initial key signature in a piece is placed immediately after the cl ...

of C major, while the third and fourth are in F major.

History

Similarities between

Latin-American music The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music highly incorpor ...

and Joplin's more familiar

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

had been noted as early as 1897 by

Ben Harney Benjamin Robertson Harney (March 6, 1872 – March 2, 1938) was an American songwriter, entertainer, and pioneer of ragtime, ragtime music. His 1895 composition "You've Been a Good Old Wagon but You Done Broke Down" is known as the second ragti ...

. Tangos were introduced to the United States as early as 1860 by

Louis Moreau Gottschalk Louis Moreau Gottschalk (May 8, 1829 – December 18, 1869) was an American composer, pianist, and virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works. He spent most of his working career outside the United States. Life and career Gottschalk ...

's "Souvenir de la Havane". Perhaps the first example of tango composed by an

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

was Jess Pickett's rag-tango "The Dream", played at the

1893 Chicago World's Fair The World's Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ce ...

. William H. Tyers' "Maori" was a famous African-American tango published a year before "Solace", though the two pieces do not share resemblance. In contrast, the first strain of "Solace" contains a theme closely resembling part of Will H. Etter's "Whoa! Maud", published four years before "Solace". "Solace" was registered for copyright on April 28, 1909, when Joplin was in his early forties and recently married. Alongside "Gladiolus Rag", "Pine Apple Rag", "

The Ragtime Dance "The Ragtime Dance" is a piece of ragtime music by Scott Joplin, first published in 1902. Publication history Although the piece was performed in Sedalia, Missouri on November 24, 1899, it wasn't published until 1902. John Stillwell Stark h ...

" and "

The Entertainer ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

", "Solace" was one of Joplin's compositions which featured in the soundtrack of the 1973 film ''

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film. Set in 1936, it involves a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw). The film was directed by George Roy Hill, who had dir ...

'' and helped to revive his music's popularity. Moreover, the piece is also featured prominently in the 2013 video game

Bioshock Infinite ''BioShock Infinite'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games and published by 2K. The third installment of the ''BioShock'' series, ''Infinite'' was released worldwide for the PlayStation 3, Windows, Xbox 360, a ...

, which is set in a floating city in the year 1912.

Notes

References

External links

Sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

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Sheet music
at the Library of Congress website {{Authority control 1909 compositions Compositions by Scott Joplin Compositions for solo piano Compositions in C major Serenades Contradanza Tangos Tango in the United States