As a child I would listen to "The Entertainer" and think longingly of the ice cream truck. The composer of this piano rag was Scott Joplin, who was most famous for this piece and one other, "The Maple Leaf Rag." Despite his fame as the "King of Ragtime," Scott Joplin would have preferred to be known as a classical pianist and a composer of classical music and more often than not used European classical music and opera as the basis for most of his music. Most people do not know that he wrote 2 operas and a ragtime ballet because they didn't become known until after his death. Joplin would be heartened to know that Treemonisha actually become famous as the first African-American opera because unfortunately at the time of his death, in 1918, his dream was unrealized. It is large popular still today due to the continued relevance of its subject matter and the accessibility of the genre of music.
Joplin had many different influences for many of his works but namely his opera I’ll be discussing, Treemonisha. Joplin was an African-American composer in the mid-18th century to the early 19th century. Back in the days when Scott Joplin was living and working as a composer, African-Americans did not have the same civil rights as their Caucasian counterparts, making it extremely difficult to live a life that was just as successful or fulfilling. This divide especially manifested itself, and still does today, in areas that are vastly dominated by people of Caucasian descent, such as classical music. Earlier, I mentioned that Joplin wanted to be a classic pianist and composer. Considering the reality of the world in his day, this feat would have been extremely farfetched for him to achieve if there were not many helpful people around him. One of the most important people in his musical life was John Stillwell Stark. John Stark was born in 1841 and was a huge supporter of Joplin and his music. He was Joplin’s music publisher and he gave Joplin the opportunity to make a lot of money because otherwise, Joplin’s efforts to become a world class composer would almost have certainly been futile. John Stark gave royalties to African-American composers who published music in his publishing house. The royalties were as little as one cent per print made. However, the small amounts added up over time, aiding Scott Joplin to make vast amounts of money for his compositions. The most notable composition that was published and printed in this publishing house was the “Maple Leaf Rag”. Having someone who believed in and backed up the creative work of African-Americans was extremely vital to their success during that time period.
Following his dreams to be a classical composer, Joplin created this most notable classical-like work, Treemonisha. Treemonisha is considered by many to be the American Magic Flute “with a touch of English harlequinade” (Kirk 192.) In the opera, Joplin implies that there is significance in different characters of the opera. The characters sometimes, in some ways, represent people who he loves and who are close to him. In American Opera by Elise Huhl Kirk, it states that “Scott Joplin gives his characters special musical life and depth. Perhaps because they represent those closest to him in real life. Like Ned, his own father had been a slave, and like Monisha, his mother took in washing and ironing so her child could have an education” (Kirk 192-193). Here, Kirk explains the implied significance of the characters Ned and Monisha. Furthermore, “…perhaps, Treemonisha…represent[s] Joplin’s only child, his daughter from his first marriage, who had died in infancy in 1905. Joplin may have made the little girl live again in the noblest character he could invent. a leader of wisdom, grace and power.” (Kirk 192-193). Joplin’s daughter is suspected to be the main influence of his opera because the character of Treemonisha is presented in such an angelic light. Joplin may have used his characters as a metaphorical, yet somewhat tangible means to be figuratively closer to loved ones who were important to him or who had passed on.
Joplin’s opera takes place near Texarkana, Texas, the place where he was born and spent many of his childhood years and is about a girl named Treemonisha who is found beneath a tree by Ned and Monisha, who have yearned for a child who they can educate and call their own. Treemonisha grows up under their care and becomes extremely educated and wise. Treemonisha is taught the vital skills of reading and writing by a white lady. Treemonisha is kidnapped by conjurers, evil magicians, who look around for people who demonstrate characters of naïveness and foolishness. She spends time with the magicians being held her hostage as she is being prepared to be thrown into a nest of killer wasps before she is rescued by her friend Remus, who comes to her rescue disguised as a scarecrow. Treemonisha is then brought back to her community where they understand that being ignorant is a sure way to end up the way she did and that they must become more educated and then select Treemonisha to be the leader of their civilization.
Scott Joplin completed Treemonisha in 1910 and paid, with his own money, for a vocal and piano score to be published. Scott Joplin paid for and presented a concert read-through of Treemonisha in 1915 at the Lincoln Theatre in Harlem, New York City. Treemonisha received raving reviews after its premiere. People were enthralled by music and storyline. Unfortunately, Joplin died before the fully staged premiere of his opera, but the story of the opera lives on and continues to be one of his most popular and sought-after works. According to American Opera, “Treemonisha was given its staged premiere at the Memorial Arts Center in Atlanta (Georgia) on January 28th and 29th, 1972, with Robert Shaw conducting the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.” (Kirk 194). After Joplin’s death, the original score had been lost and had to be reconstructed for the sake of it “living on”. Gunther Schuller gave Treemonisha its new orchestration. “…with a new orchestral score by Gunther Schuller and Carmen Balthrop singing the title role” (Kirk 194). As a result of the positive way it was received during its premiere, Treemonisha has been given many performances since Joplin’s concert read-through and has gained worldwide attention.
I believe that Treemonisha doesn’t really fit to the mold of modern opera stylistically, musically or thematically and because of this, I would not consider it to be a modernist opera. Musically and stylistically, the opera is made, almost exclusively, of rags Scott Joplin made for the opera. He constructed the opera and vocal lines as such. “For Treemonisha and Remus, soprano and tenor, Joplin writes warm, lyrical lines with loving care” (Kirk 193). Joplin wrote in a way for the voice that was extremely lyrical but yet had the quirky quality of ragtime. He was able to use different musical ideas and chords that were, in a way, unusual for the time. “Directly from melodrama and silent film, moreover, are frequent patterns of diminished seventh-chords descending chromatically whenever the scene becomes eerie or frightening” (Kirk 193). Scott Joplin’s use of a chorus is also something that I personally rarely see in modern operas. He uses the chorus, in my opinion, in a way that heightens the action, similar to Hindemith’s Cardillac we discussed earlier this semester in class. “The chorus in Treemonisha is present in some format in nearly every number. Joplin uses it for dramatic action and musical show, but especially as a showpiece of spirited black traditions and current popular styles” (Kirk 193). Joplin also grew up in the church where they often have large choirs, which may have influenced him to use them in his operas. This connection to his past gives the effect of using a large choir in a show much more meaning. Thematically, this opera has content that was relevant back in the days of slavery.
Back when Joplin was around, white slave owners lived by the motto: Ignorance is bliss. They were able to keep African-Americans captured and enslaved for much longer if they ensured that they were ignorant of paramount life styles, such as reading and writing. They did their best to cut off any access to learning. I believe Treemonisha is more musically and stylistically remote in comparison to other modern operas than it is thematically remote. I find that operas in the modernist period have a large variety of topics dating back from the time of slavery to present day. However, musically, modern operas will more likely than not include music like ragtime in its contents; making this opera more remote in those areas. I believe Joplin wanted to make his opera historically relevant, a similar idea that we talked about with John Adams’ operas.
Adams uses different historical events like The Manhattan Project and the hijacking of a crew ship and murder of Klinghoffer to present these stigmas and make them relevant in classical music and opera. Classical music, especially opera, has suffered from lack of relevance to the “average” people of society so Adam’s uses relevant topics to try and draw the general public into toe world of opera in hopes of heightened appreciation. I suspect Joplin did the same. Besides slavery, womens stance in society is a substantial theme in Treemonisha. At the end of opera, Treemonisha becomes the “leader of the pack” and the head of his community. In one of the final numbers, there is a call and response I noticed while watching. Treemonisha states “If I lead the good women, tell me, who will lead the men?” The men then respond: “You, You, You”. She then says, “Women may follow me many days long but the men may think that I am wrong”. Followed by the men's response of: “No, no, no, we all agree to trust you”. By addressing this issue of women being treated as subsidiary to men, Scott Joplin addressed an issue that is still important today, therefore making it relevant and allows his opera to have increased importance.
Treemonisha is an opera that is timeless and still contains many important topics that we are trying to mend and improve today. These issues range from racism, to slavery, to the equal rights and opinions of women. I do not think that Treemonisha receives the attention it deserves. I believe that it is a story that should be told in opera houses across the world. It is a story that can be told again and again and still have an important message for everyone who is watching. I, moreover, think this story has something to say in regard to the human condition. For as long as we remember and have recollection of, men have always been leaders of society and their respective communities. When someone like Scott Joplin, writes a storyline that intervenes with that normal action, there is interruption in this human condition we, still, live in. I think the opera adds a new perspective on this important topic because it shows that, even in the midst of slavery, one of the biggest and horrific issues of US history, the rights of women always have been as important as other issues. It shows that some select individuals never viewed this as a “lesser” problem that needs to be addressed.