Purchasing information Notice for leaders/bass players
Length: approx. 3¾ mins.
A Florida Cracker is an interesting early and relatively unknown rag two step. Its form is ABBCCDDAB whereby the A-, B- and C-strains are in F-major and the D-strains are in Bb-major. The opening A-strain is a soft and gentle affair and the melodic line is shared by the 1st tenor and bass voices. The theme of the A-strain is expanded in the B-strain whereby the 1st tenor takes the melody and continues to do so in the C-strain whose dynamics continually vary between piano and forte. In the D-strain the 1st tenor and bass once again share honours. The final A- and B-strains build up from
p to
ff leading to a triumphant conclusion. The original sheet music shows the bandmaster composer in an oval insert above a photograph of a group of young lady cyclists posing before the tower gates of some significant building, a school perhaps. What all this has to with the music and its title is a mystery unlikely to be solved.
A Florida Cracker was published by
S. Brainard's Sons Co., Chicago, Illinois, USA.
A tempo of 80 crotchets/min. is suggested.