After the 1893 world fair in Chicago where a larger audience had listened to ragtime for the first time, it came down the country with a vengeance. Ragtime is regarded as the precursor of jazz, but it is still fully composed music - whereas jazz is not. The interpretation of ragtime music has changed remarkably over the years: initially a kind of dance music, it was played in a rigid tempo. In the recent past, however, when performers of classic music came to adopt the ragtime, such pieces have been played more like "serious" romantic piano pieces, i.e. in a free and more flexible tempo, in a more expressive and sensitive manner. An edition which all "classic" piano trios will thoroughly enjoy!
