Notes
I wrote Galloping Ghosts (A Ragtime March) to conclude a concert
of my chamber music in New York City on October 28, 1986. It is the final
part of a work called Rags for Divers Players. This work was written
to show the variety possible within the standard rag form. I used all the
players available for the finale -- two violins, viola, cello, bass,
flute, oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano. Since this is a rather
unusual instrumental combination and not easy to reassemble, I decided
to rescore the work for concert band. Galloping Ghosts is written
in a standard march form but incorporates many of the syncopations found
in ragtime.
The uniquely American music called ragtime traces its history to African
rhythms brought over by slaves. Over the years this music became welded
to European musical forms such as the quadrille and the march. Drums and
banjos and the minstrel tradition lent a special flavor, and from all these
elements ragtime slowly evolved within the largely unknown black subculture
of the late 19th century. In the late 1890's it emerged as a fully developed
form in the classic piano solos of Scott Joplin (1869-1917). Joplin's 1899
hit, Maple Leaf Rag, was an overnight sensation and brought ragtime
worldwide fame.
A rag usually consists of two or more "strains," normally
16 measures long, each repeated, and a contrasting "trio" in
a different key. Most have a four-measure introduction. Two common forms
are AA BB A: CC DD, and A BB A: CC DD C. All rags employ some form of syncopated
melody over a steady (regular) bass line that mixes octave-chord patterns
with a walking bass. Common syncopations are:
Debussy, Ravel, Ives and Stravinsky all experimented with ragtime and
even Brahms considered writing a rag late in his life. I've often wondered
what that might have been like!
Galloping Ghosts opens with an 8-measure fanfare of trills introducing
the first section in G minor stated by the full band. The theme is angular
and syncopated. After a repeat, it modulates to C major for the Trio. The
trio theme is broad and flowing over a lightly-scored accompaniment characterized
by a multirhythmic pulse: a 4/4 melody over a 3/4 bass.
A 20-measure "ghostly" interlude follows, featuring shifting
chromatic dissonances, strongly marked rhythmic motives, and unusual colors
and timbres. After a short transition the Trio theme returns in a new key
and a slower, Grandioso style for the full band.
Galloping Ghosts should be played with a strong rhythmic drive and a
steady forward motion. It should also be playful and spiritedly humorous.
The "Grandioso" should be played somewhat "tongue-in-cheek."
Copyright © 1998 Manhattan Beach Music. All Rights Reserved.
Performance by Donald S. George conducting the University of Wisconsin-Eau
Claire Symphony Band.
