Ragtime / Early 20th-century American · 1909
Solace — A Mexican Serenade
S. Joplin
- Key
- F
- Time
- C
- Tempo
- ♩=60
- AO focus
- AO3
Incipit
Form
Slow ragtime / habanera. Joplin's only published piece in habanera rhythm — the same dance form Bizet used for Carmen's 'L'amour est un oiseau rebelle'. Slow 4/4, dotted-rhythm bass.
Teaching points
- Habanera rhythm — the syncopated dotted bass figure (dotted-eighth + sixteenth + two eighths)
- Slow ragtime — Joplin's tempo marking is 'very slow march time'. Resist rushing
- AO3: cross-genre influence — habanera came to American ragtime via New Orleans, where Cuban dance music thrived
Full score ↓Public domain
Score: IMSLP (1909 first edition, public domain).