Scott Joplin Treemonisha
Scott Joplin, also known as The King of ragtime, was an African music composer and pianist of the twentieth century. He focused a lot on the perfection of ragtime. Although he was successful, he did struggle during his career because of the time period in which he lived in. Joplin composes many ragtime music, but what is more unique is his opera that he composed, Treemonisha in 1911. Treemonisha was the only opera in existence about the Reconstruction Era of the African-American experience which was written by a black man who experienced it himself.
The Reconstruction Era was during the period after the Civil War which was when slavery was abolished in January of 1865. Although the purpose of the Reconstruction Era
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was to bring unity to the country, it itself brought division. This division started the black codes that were passed by the Southern States. Although slavery was officially abolished, laws were being passed that restrict freedom of the African Americans and forcing them to work harder than when they were a slave. In Scott Joplin’s ragtime opera Treemonisha, he explains vividly the culture through the music and ancient African dances of his rural childhood are all heard even in different dialects of his people rising up from slavery. Treemonisha in its time was obviously not fully appreciated, but Joplin ignited truth to his compositions. His work was from a different perspective and wasn’t understood by many, but the story resemble how life was for the African Americans right after the Civil War when slavery just got abolished. In Treemonisha the setting takes place right after the Civil war between 1866 to 1884 at Arkansas.
There are several Negro families that are living on the plantation and other families back in the woods. In 1866 they did not know what they were going to do. Treemonisha is about a woman named Monisha and her husband Ned. Monisha and Ned prayed that they would have a child that would be educated and be able to spread its knowledge to those who were around them to aspired to do something better and higher than irrationality and conjuring. One September morning of 1866 Monisha and her husband stumbled across a baby girl that was light-brown skinned and under a tree that grew right in front of their cabin in which they lived in. When they found the child, they took her in as if she was their own daughter. Both Monisha and Ned agreed that they would keep their daughter ignorant of her finding out that they are not her biological, because they wanted her to love them as if they were her real parents. They did however promised to make her aware when she was old enough to understand. As their daughter grew up, they noticed that their daughter also named Monisha liked to play under the tree in which they found her, So they decided to call her Treemonisha. When Treemonisha was seven years old, Monisha made arrangements with a white family for Treemonisha to do their washing and ironing, and her father Ned would chop their wood if the white lady would give his daughter Treemonisha an education. The lady consented to the agreement and as a result Treemonisha was the only educated person in the neighborhood. Scott Joplin composed a short strain of music that was part of the Opera that represented the happiness from the people when they feel free from the conjurer and their spells of
superstition. The opera ragtime Treemonisha was a remarkable achievement that was made by Scott Joplin that consisted of twenty-seven musical numbers in 3 Acts. All the compositions were composed by Joplin, which was quite unique, because most theatre composers would collaborate with the project, however Joplin worked with all the music, including arias, recitatives, duets, a quartet, a quintet, and extensive choral writing in up to eight parts. Scott Joplin created the story and the lyrics, as well with the Choreography. Scott Joplin’s music in Treemonisha is well written, and he really takes the time to organize the rhythm in each of the music that he composes. Each musical number tells a specific story and the songs goes with the mood of the scene and at the same time is very catchy to the listener. The musical numbers are very melodic and each note is in perfect pitch. His music alone gives the listeners the idea of how it was during the Reconstruction Era for the African-Americans. It is obvious that he took his time constructing all the musical numbers in the Opera. The transitions between musical numbers too are extraordinary on how they transition smoothly to a different mood and still sound amazing. However, the opera Treemonisha was not well known to the people in that time period in which it was finished and then composed in 1911. The majority of the people therefore misunderstood the opera and remained ignorant of the African-American’s viewpoint during the Reconstruction Era after the Civil War. The compositions of Joplin were lost over a period of time, and then were later found, but almost completely destroyed in the early 1960’s. His work was then completely recovered in the 1970’s by a group of classical musicians that were not necessarily concerned for the works of Scott Joplin. It was mainly Joplin’s complexity that was not understood by his audience, and because of it, his work was almost completely destroyed, but now that his work has been recovered completely, his hard work now can be understood and appreciated to all those who can hear and understand the story that he tells about the life of an African-American’s view point of the Reconstruction Era. Ragtime for Scott Joplin was not taken lightly. He dedicated a lot of time and effort to his work to be heard by those who appreciated music. He had a lot of knowledge of the musical structure for ragtime and of the notations in music. He was also aware of the musical structure of his notes and what mood they set when played. His knowledge of music was not completely acknowledged, but he didn’t seem to care for the acknowledgement, but instead worked because of his appreciation for ragtime.
Rachel M. Harper’s The Myth of Music intentionally weaves together 1960s era jazz music and a poor African American family via metaphor and allusion to show a deep familiar bond between father and daughter.
Hawaii is such a diverse and unique area that it is said to be a biologist’s paradise. Biologists travel here to study the wide variety of species and one such species is Aleurites moluccana or the kukui tree. The kukui tree is originally from Southeast Asia, particularly the Indo-Malaysia region, and has moved its way into the Pacific. It was first introduced to the Hawaiian islands when the Polynesians navigated their way here hundreds of years ago (Elevitch, C. R., & Manner, H. I., 2006). Since then, the kukui tree’s physical adaptations have helped it to thrive in Hawaii and native Hawaiians were able to utilize this plant in a number of ways.
Joplin published one of his greatest operas in May 1911 called Treemonisha. Treemonisha consisted of a 240-page manuscript which was written for the use of eleven voices and piano accompaniment. This piece became the first grand opera composed by an African American. In 1976, Treemonisha won the coveted Pulitzer Prize.
“The best way to predict your future is to create it” (Lincoln). President states the principal of Reconstruction, where to unite the United States, there must be an authoritative action to carry it out. The Reconstruction Era (1863-1877) is a period where Lincoln sought to restore the divided nation by uniting the confederates and the union and to involve the freedmen into the American society. The main objectives were to initially restore the union, to rebuild the South and to enact progressive legislation for the rights of the freed slaves. Thus, the executive and legislature branches had enacted a series of polices to “create the future” for the United States. Although the policies tied down to the Reconstructive motive, there was controversy
Reconstruction was a time period, following the Civil War, which focused on rebuilding the nation. Reconstruction was primarily focused with readmitting the seceded states into the Union. Another major issue was the condition of the approximately 4 million freedmen.
Reconstruction is the period of rebuilding the south that succeeded the Civil War (1861-1865). This period of time is set by the question now what? The Union won the war and most of the south was destroyed. Devastation, buildings turned into crumbles and lost crops. The South was drowning in poverty. To worsen the situation there were thousands of ex-slaves that were set free by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13 Amendment. "All these ex-slaves", Dr. Susan Walens commented, "and no place to put them," The ex-slaves weren't just homeless but they had no rights, unlike white man. The government and congress had to solve the issues present in the south and the whole nation in order to re-establish the South. These issues were economical, social and political. The United States had presidential and congressional reconstruction. Reconstruction was a failure, a great attempt to unify the nation. It was a failure due to the events that took place during this period.
Reconstruction is known as the period after the Civil war. The whole country was separated in two, people didn’t know what to do, the south was completely destroyed, and there were a lot of decisions to be made by the president. It lasted four years, and there was over half a million casualties between the union (North) and the confederate states (South). The north was declared the winner of the war after General Lee surrender in the Appomattox court house on April 9, 1865. The causes of the war was the secession of several southern states, they argued that it was up to them and it was in their rights to decide whether they should make slavery legal or illegal in their own boundaries. But the Union had other things in mind, the union wanted to decide whether or not the states were going to have slaves. This was just to make sure the country was equal on slavery and non-slavery on both sides, but states thought the union was abusing their power and being too strict on them, and that is when they decided to secede. The first state to secede was south Carolina, then they were followed by six other states, among those states were Florida, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. These states got together and created the confederate states of America in February 4, 1861, and the president was Jefferson Davis, they also made a government similar to the one of the U.S. Constitution.
Betty Smith’s A Tree Grows in Brooklyn presents the problems of a young girl coming of age, a time when she is faced with new challenges and must overcome obstacles. Throughout the book the protagonist, Francie Nolan discovers herself maturing as she struggles with loneliness, the loss of innocence and a life of poverty in a Brooklyn slum. This theme is evident in (1.) her love for books which she uses as companionship, (2.) her outlook on the world as she matures and finally, (3.) her realization that in order to succeed in life she must obtain an education and work hard to do it.
Reconstruction was the time period following the Civil War, which lasted from 1865 to 1877, in which the United States began to rebuild. The term can also refer to the process the federal government used to readmit the defeated Confederate states to the Union. While all aspects of Reconstruction were not successful, the main goal of the time period was carried out, making Reconstruction over all successful. During this time, the Confederate states were readmitted to the Union, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth amendments were ratified, and African Americans were freed from slavery and able to start new lives.
1865-1877 the Period of Reconstruction America has gone through many different struggles and positive changes. There have been so many different revolutionary moments in America. One of these revolutionary moments was Reconstruction after the Civil War. Reconstruction had different periods such as Emancipation and Reconstruction, Presidential Reconstruction, Radical Reconstruction, and the Compromise of 1877. The period of Reconstruction had many goals and accomplishments.
Betty Smith’s novel A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is a tale of poignant family relationships and childhood and also of grim privation. The story revolves around the protagonist of the story, young Francie Nolan. She is an imaginative, endearing 11-year-old girl growing up in 1912, in Brooklyn, New York. The entire story revolves around Francie and the Nolan family, including her brother Neelie, her mother Katie and her father Johnny. An ensemble of high relief characters aids and abets them in their journey through this story of sometimes bleak survival and everlasting hope. As we find out, the struggle for survival is primarily focused against the antagonist of this story, the hard-grinding poverty afflicting Francie, the Nolan’s and Brooklyn itself. The hope in the novel is shown symbolically in the “The “Tree of Heaven””. A symbol used throughout the novel to show hope, perseverance and to highlight other key points.
Reconstruction was the rebuilding after the war. The Reconstruction period lasted from 1865-1877. Reconstruction was not only the physical rebuilding but also the “political, economic, and social changes” (Berkin, Cherny, Gormly, Miller, 2013, 417). The stages of Reconstruction were the Presidential Reconstruction, Freedom and the Legacy of Slavery, Congressional Reconstruction and Black Reconstruction. Reconstruction started off as a success. It united the United States. States that succeeded from the union had made new constitutions and accepted the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments.
The Reconstruction implemented by Congress, which lasted from 1866 to 1877, was aimed at reorganizing the Southern states after the Civil War, providing the means for readmitting them into the Union, and defining the means by which whites and blacks could live together in a nonslave society. The South, however, saw Reconstruction as a humiliating, even vengeful imposition and did not welcome it.
After the ending of one of the savage war in American history: the Civil War, the Reconstruction Era was just around the corner with the introduction of new goal set for the American society. The Reconstruction Era is described as an era of turbulence in which there was an attempt but failure was victorious. There were few goals that the Reconstruction had. The first was to transform or reconstruct the South, the second was to strengthen and pass down laws, which will aid freemen, and lastly was to restore the Union back again.
Scott Joplin was know as the kings of ragtime. I will explain also explain how he grew up and what type of music he played. I will also write about why I believe he deserves the title that he has been bestowed upon him.