Anita Johnson, AnnMarie Sandy, Edward Pleasant, Frank Ward, Jr., Chauncey Packer, Todd Payne, Robert Mack, Janinah Burnett, Darren Stokes, The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Singers; Rick Benjamin, conductor
CD includes special package by cartoonist and ragtime enthusiast Chris Ware.
World-premiere recording of the first-ever historically authentic orchestration of this “Sleeping Beauty of American Music” by Rick Benjamin
Scott Joplin’s (1867–1917) opera Treemonisha is an astounding work of art, and one that resonates on many levels. It is the only opera in existence about the Reconstruction Era African-American experience written by a black man who actually lived through it. This fact alone makes Treemonisha a work of tremendous significance. Further, Joplin’s music is profoundly expressive and as stylistically unique as anything ever created in America. There is nothing remotely comparable to it.
And through his score and libretto, Joplin vividly documented a culture that has left us few other artifacts: The echoes of the “field hollers,” spirituals, fiddle tunes, revival hymns, and ancient African dances of his rural childhood are all heard, as are the spoken dialects of his people rising up from slavery. Further, Treemonisha is a statement of deep racial pride and an act of true artistic heroism—the creation of beauty in the face of almost unbearable ignorance, racism, poverty, and physical and emotional pain.
Yet for all of its obvious significance, Treemonisha has been a deeply misunderstood work, both in Scott Joplin’s era and in ours. His opera was complex and virtually unprecedented, two reasons why 1910s America could not embrace it. His original 1911 materials for the opera were almost entirely destroyed in the early 1960s. Although deserving much credit for taking interest, 1970s classical musicians were, for the most part, not concerned with the opera’s cultural origins or historic authenticity—the essential fabrics of this work.
But now, on the centennial of this extraordinary creation, it is time to listen to Treemonisha with a deeper understanding. Listen now as Scott Joplin—The King of Ragtime Writers—sings the song he wanted America to hear.
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"Scott Joplin's Ragtime is Ambrosia. Here's Why it Matters." at The New York Times.
"Treemonisha was Joplin’s magnum opus, a classical/ragtime synthesis of Wagnerian proportions" at Black Grooves.
"Rick Benjamin’s reconstruction of Scott Joplin’s lone surviving opera Treemonisha from the existing vocal/piano score is nothing less than a revelation of historical research and musicology" at Classics Today.
"Without doubt this new recording of Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha is both welcome and significant" at MusicWeb International.
"'Treemonisha' as It Was Intended To Be" at The Wall Street Journal.
Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Singers
Scott Joplin: Treemonisha
| MP3/320 | $19.99 | |
| FLAC | $19.99 | |
| WAV | $19.99 | |
| 2xCD | $31.98 |
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Treemonisha: Act 1: Overture
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: The Bag of Luck
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: The Corn-Huskers
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: We're Goin' Around
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: The Wreath
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: The Sacred Tree
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: Surprised
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: Treemonisha's Bringing Up
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: Good Advice
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 1: Confusion
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: Superstition
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: Treemonisha in Peril
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: Frolic of the Bears
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: The Wasp-Nest
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: The Rescue
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: We Will Rest Awhile
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: Going Home
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 2: Aunt Dinah Has Blowed de Horn
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Prelude to Act 3
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: I Want to See My Child
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: Treemonisha's Return
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: Wrong Is Never Right
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: Abuse
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: When Villains Ramble Far and Near
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: Conjurers Forgiven
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: We Will Trust You as Our Leader
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Act 3: A Real Slow Drag
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Appendix: Bowing Music - Themes from the Opera in One-Step Tempo
Scott Joplin
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Treemonisha: Appendix: Scott Joplin's Treemonisha Preface
Scott Joplin
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