Purchasing information Notice for leaders/bass players
Length: approx. 4¾ mins..
The
Radium Dance was first introduced in the Broadway musical
Piff-Paff-Pouf which starred the popular comic actor Eddie Foy in April, 1904. The title also reflects how quick the old ragtimers were to keep abreast with the technical and scientific advances of their day. Radium, the most reactive of the alkaline earth metals then recently discovered by Pierre and Marie Curie in 1898, was just beginning to be used both for medically treating tumours and for the luminous paints and artefacts so beloved by stage designers when this piece was composed. This is further borne out by the ghostly luminous skipping Pierrots shown on the cover of the original sheet music. The dance itself is a jolly affair which fairly bowls along. Its form is AABCCAB with an 8-bar introduction - the strains are each of a whopping 32 bars requiring stamina and dare it be said, puff from the performers. Triads abound giving plentiful employment to the melody voices in this delightful dance.
The
Radium Dance was published by
Shapiro, Remick & Co., Detroit & New York, USA.
A tempo of 100 crotchets/min. is suggested.
