Generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of “complete works” albums (of any composer). It is a huge amount to ask of both the player and the listener. Most of them, in my opinion, don’t show a great deal of variation between tracks, and one often is subjected to a lot of sameness. One of two of the best precursors to this album of which I can recollect is William Albright’s complete works by Joplin. He changed the score considerably during the repeat sections, and Albright was what we used to call a “monster pianist”—that is, someone who could play anything in any genre with towering virtuosity, beautiful tone, breathtakingly slow or heart-stoppingly fast. Another album which springs to mind is that of John “Knocky” Parker on Solo Art, a subsidiary of Jazzology. What he misses in dynamic variation he more than makes up for in unusual jazz-inflected variation.
So, I am ecstatic to report that this 2017 three CD set, played by Richard Dowling is, in my opinion, probably the best of the lot. What makes this set so great, in my estimation, is that a certain set of parameters were decided upon in advance. The first, and most important perhaps, was Dowling’s determination to follow Joplin’s (purported) own words that “…each note will be played as written…” We are fairly certain that Joplin himself did not hold himself to that tenet completely (Trebor Tichenor once played a piano roll purportedly recorded by Joplin to his protégé Arthur Marshall which had very unusual bass patterns, and Marshall was unfazed, “…that was his style…” he said to Tichenor). My opinion is that Joplin’s “words” were not a royal edict, but rather a general idea to prevent players unfamiliar with the genre from “unsyncopating” the music. We know that Joplin did change the score, usually in the bass notes.
The second parameter was that this album was to be recorded not on an American Steinway, but a Hamburg (German) Steinway. This provides a very different sound from American Steinways. These instruments have a darker tone, are less vibrant and brilliant than American Steinways, and this provides a completely new perspective on Joplin’s work. This piano is therefore better suited to playing and recording in a smaller space, which is how Joplin’s music was more likely originally performed. Perhaps it is also appropriate seeing as Joplin’s first real teacher was from the area of the world which would eventually become Germany. The booklet does not indicate the location of the recording, other than “West Palm Beach, Florida.”
The third major parameter that is attached to the project, and I thought that this was probably the best, is that instead of programming the works chronologically (either by year of composition or year of publication), they are presented in an order according to the taste of the performer and the producer. This is perhaps the most important aspect of the album, as it allows the performer to present the works with maximum amount of diversity between them.
For instance, programming Joplin’s first published rag, Original Rags, to come after a mature work, Pleasant Moments (a syncopated waltz), puts both into a completely new perspective. The first shows exceptional but raw talent, the other is a flowing and mature expression.
The last major perimeter is Dowling’s stated desire “…to emphasize the beauty of Joplin’s music, through manipulation of tone color and voicing on the piano…” This Dowling achieves in abundance. From the very first notes on the first CD one can hear the precision and intentionality with which every note is played. Although space prohibits talking about every track in detail, I could tell from those first notes, that this was going to be a very special album. What follows are some perceptions I had as I listened through it.
Paragon Rag is VERY different from how predecessor Max Morath recorded it. Morath juxtaposes “swingy” rhythms and triplets with more straight rhythms and plays the C section much slower than the rest. Dowling plays it pretty much the same speed all the way through (a quick march tempo), and it still sounds great. Bass notes are often much stronger than in Morath’s version.
In The Strenuous Life, in the second section, the second to last chord before the cadence in the middle is louder than the one played on the cadence. This is more evidence with which to conclude that everything that happens in this album is based on conscious decisions.
In A Breeze from Alabama, Dowling uses rubato to good effect throughout, and this helps the transition from one tonal center to another from the second to last to the last section.
With Pineapple Rag, Dowling is often not holding on to chords in the right hand, and the staccato effect is used greatly in the bass octaves in final repeat. This is an example of Dowling occasionally playing something different from what is in the score – to great effect.
I never realized what a beautiful piece Leola was despite it being a structural pastiche of Maple Leaf Rag. Dowling makes very effective use of soft pedal in the last section.
The Easy Winners is very different from Bill Bolcom’s version. In Dowling’s interpretation the piece is much sprightlier and has a greater use of detaché in the right hand. The third section brings out inner and implied harmonies very beautifully.
Dowling’s interpretation of Bethena (a ragtime waltz) displays excellent contrasts between soft pedal and no soft pedal, and very nice rubato at the ends of phrases. The fourth section is a little slower and it could even have been slower, but it still works really well, which also has nice changes in timbre for that section. There is very nice slowing down in the coda. There is always a temptation to play the second to last chord very loud, and Dowling resists that temptation to his immense credit.
Antoinette (a march) is much more interesting than I remember it. Per producer Bryan Wright’s speculation in his liner notes, the last two sections are almost “operatic” in nature.
The Cascades is excellently understated. Dowling changes the score by repeating the “A” section before the “C” section. This is an excellent change which never would have occurred to me. And there is plenty of contrast in the “D” section with the bass being strongly prominent. Again, Dowling ends the piece quietly on the cadence, to his credit.
Similar to Morath’s interpretation, Dowling plays the first section of The Silver Swan in a very gently swinging manner, but graceful and poised. I prefer this newer version overall than the transcription which Morath used (the newer one features some of Max Keenlyside’s transcription). Dowling uses the sustaining pedal extensively in the “C” section, with more rubato in first few bars, and more legato than detaché with a softer ending.
There are not many recordings of The Favorite, which is mostly a march with some syncopations. Dowling achieves great clarity here by bringing out the inner voices in first section in the first few bars. It is a very charming piece very charmingly played, with nice soft touch in the second section resisting the temptation to play it with a hard tone.
After bringing out the elegance and melodiousness Dowling turns right around catches the bucolic and folk-like/banjo-like quality of the Swipesy Cake Walk despite the fact that Dowling largely plays it much as written.
In Eugenia, while I would have been happier with a little less sustaining pedal at one point, I thought it was excellently played, despite its faster than usual tempo, and it still comes off as elegant and graceful.
Lily Queen, co-written with Arthur Marshall provides fine contrast, and Dowling plays it in a very slow and stately fashion which still works despite the use of “blue notes” in the last section.
As I mentioned before, Pleasant Moments and Original Rags are placed one after the other showing great contrast in style, even though they were both written by the same composer, obviously. And in the last section of Original Rags, we hear Dowling add greater strength to the ending by playing loud deep octaves in the bass, not written in the original score.
It is greatly pleasing to hear that even though Dowling set himself a certain number of rules while playing these pieces, he did not obey those rules slavishly. He controlled the performances, rather than the performances controlling him. And while I don’t agree with absolutely everything he does, each and every piece is a valid interpretation and works perfectly. He also set himself the goal of playing every piece more or less “as written.” I didn’t think such a thing could be done and have such a project be constantly arresting and interesting, but he has completely succeeded.
Producer Bryan Wright is a musicologist as well as an exceptional pianist himself, which explains the great empathy he has for the performer, enabling Dowling to give the best results. The eloquent booklet notes are written with great regard to historical accuracy, and each of the rags receives a small page of explanation along with a beautiful reproduction of the original cover on archival quality paper in an exceptional 72-page booklet. Wright also recorded the whole project himself, with editing assisted by Dowling himself. It makes the listener truly wonder what on earth it is that Mr. Wright cannot do?
This review is already much longer than it should have been, and I find it sad that I can’t write detailed assessments of absolutely every piece on this exceptional three compact disc set. What I can say is that it is very rare to find an album with this much extraordinary material, both composed by one of America’s greatest composers and performed brilliantly, conceived and realized by a multi-talented producer with such unusual attention to detail. In this amazing set, Dowling proves himself to be a very considerable artist, showing great intentionality with every note played and every work recorded. And he proved that you can play the pieces largely “as written,” to my delighted surprise. In every way imaginable, this album is a phenomenal artistic success.
Recommended without reservation.
The Complete Piano Works of Scott Joplin: Rags, Waltzes, Marches
Richard Dowling, piano
3-CD set, Rivermont Records BSW-2240
rivermontrecords.com
Matthew de Lacey Davidson is a pianist and composer currently resident in Nova Scotia, Canada. His first CD, Space Shuffle and Other Futuristic Rags (Stomp Off Records), contained the first commercial recordings of the rags of Robin Frost. His second CD, The Graceful Ghost: Contemporary Piano Rags (Capstone Records), was the first commercial compact disc consisting solely of post-1960 contemporary piano ragtime, about which Gramophone magazine said, …a remarkably talented pianist…as a performer Davidson has few peers…”
