The black American composer and pianist Scott Joplin won contemporary fame for his ragtime compositions in the heyday of a form that extended the influence of early jazz into various musical fields. The publication in 1899 of his Maple Leaf Rag did much to popularise the form among amateur pianists.

Piano Rags

Joplin wrote operas, songs, marches and waltzes but is chiefly known for his ragtime piano music, with collections published between 1899 and 1917, the year of his death. The form has received more recent attention, with a revival of interest in the last quarter of the 20th century.