Scott Joplin Didn't Die of Opera Failure

This episode contains discussions of syphilis. If you are concerned you have syphilis or another sexually transmitted infection, you can find information about sexual health clinics in New York City here.

This Composer is Sick wraps up with an exploration of how syphilis affected the life, works, and death of American composer Scott Joplin. Host Emi Ferguson and her guests, Joplin biographer and ragtime scholar Edward Berlin, and syphilis researcher Sheila Lukehart, look at Joplin's life as he battled syphilis, particularly his last years in New York, as he worked to stage a production of his opera, Treemonisha.

Recordings:

“Frolic of the Bears” by Scott Joplin, performed by The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra and Singers. From the sound recording Scott Joplin: Treemonisha. New World Records #80720-2 (p) & © 2011 Anthology of Recorded Music, Inc. Used by permission. Available here.

"The Entertainer" by Scott Joplin, performed by Benjamin Loeb, courtesy of Naxos of America

"Maple Leaf Rag" performed by the United States Marine Band

"Maple Leaf Rag" performed by Jade Simmons; "A Real Slow Drag" from Treemonisha performed by Laquita Mitchell and Joshua Rifkin, from WQXR Presents: Joplin at 150 in the Greene Space, November 2019

"Magnetic Rag" performed by Lara Downes from Scott Joplin's New York in the Greene Space, March 2022

Additional recording of "A Real Slow Drag" from Treemonisha by Emi Ferguson

Additional thanks to the NYC Municipal Archives, the National Archives, and the New York Public Radio Archives for archival audio.