Real Slow Drag, A

Scott Joplin

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General Info

Year: 1911 / 1913
Duration: c. 4:25
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Publisher: Trone Music
Cost: Score and Parts - Unknown

Instrumentation

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Errata

None discovered thus far.

Program Notes

A Real Slow Drag was a song written for the opera Treemonisha (1911/1972), a work composed by the African-American composer Scott Joplin, most famous for his ragtime piano works. Though it encompasses a wide range of musical styles other than ragtime, and Joplin did not refer to it as such, it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "ragtime opera".

The opera was virtually unheard of until its first complete performance in 1972. The opera's theme is that education is the salvation of the Negro race, represented by the heroine and symbolic educator Treemonisha, who runs into trouble with a local band of magicians who kidnap her.

The music of Treemonisha includes an overture and prelude, along with various recitatives, choruses, small ensemble pieces, a ballet, and a few arias.

- Program Note from Wikipedia

Although it has words, A Real Slow Drag records best as an instrumental. This is the last piece from Scott Joplin's opera, Treemonisha, which was performed only once during his lifetime, the drag being a dance. Joplin published the sheet music himself, in 1913; although a fairly unexceptional song, A Real Slow Drag generated a certain amount of controversy when it was claimed Irving Berlin had ripped off the music for Alexander's Ragtime Band, the most popular song of the decade - which was copyrighted two months before Treemonisha.

- Program Note from Songfacts

This arrangement by Charles Fernandez of A Real Slow Drag was commissioned by the California State University, Northridge, Wind Ensemble.

- Program Note by Lawrence Stoffel

Media

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State Ratings

None discovered thus far.

Performances

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California State University Northridge Wind Ensemble (Lawrence F. Stoffel, conductor) – 17 March 2022 (CBDNA 2022 Western/Northwestern Conference, Tacoma, Wash.)
California State University, Northridge, Wind Ensemble (Lawerence Stoffel, conductor) – 29 November 2016

Works for Winds by This Composer

Antoinette March (arr. Lienhart)
Bethena (arr. Long) (2004)
The Cascades (arr. Marciniak) (1904/1976)
Combination March (tr. Lienhart) (1896/2012)
Combination March (arr. Marcus) (1896/1981/2015)
Combination March (arr. Schuller) (1896/1975)
Easy Winners (arr. Allen)
Elite Syncopations (Percussion Ensemble) (arr. Long) (1902/2000)
Elite Syncopations (Wind Ensemble) (arr. Long) (1902/2000)
The Entertainer (arr. Frackenpohl) (1902/1975)
Entertainer (arr. Holcombe) (1902)
The Entertainer (arr. Reed) (1902/1974)
Joplin! (arr. Harnsberger)
Maple Leaf Rag (arr. Balent) (1899/1916/1992)
Maple Leaf Rag (arr. Blair) (1899/2022)
Maple Leaf Rag (arr. Frackenpohl) (1899/1974)
Maple Leaf Rag (arr. McLeod) (1899/)
March Majestic (arr. Lienhart)
Music from "The Sting" (arr. Cacavas) (1974)
Palm Leaf Rag (arr. Scott) (1903/1974)
The Ragtime Dance (tr. Elkus) (1974)
A Real Slow Drag (1911/1913)
Reindeer Rag (arr. Williams)
The Rosebud March (arr. Marcus)
Scott Joplin Retrospective (arr. Clark)
Solace (arr. Warner)
The Strenuous Life (arr Reed)
Sunflower Slow Drag (arr. Bourgeois)
Treemonisha Overture (orch. Chiappini)

Resources

Lawrence Stoffel, personal correspondence, November 2016
"A Real Slow Drag." Songfacts Accessed 22 November 2016
Treemonisha, Wikipedia Accessed 22 November 2016