Purchasing information Notice for leaders/bass players
Length: approx. 3¾ mins.
The title
Variety Rag was used with the permission of the same-named prestigious music business trade publication, so often shown by Hollywood in show-biz stories, and often against the backdrop of spinning railway wheels. Subtitled "Something Different" well- what is different. Well for starters, an odd bar is chucked in and appended to a 7-bar introduction and also precedes the trio, a device which surprises and effectively works. Its form, basically AABBACDCDC, is also complex and in this transcription for ragtime recorder ensemble results in the melodies being shared by the descant, treble and 1st tenor voices. The A strain has a rousing theme with nice echoes from the rhythm section. The contrasting B strain has close harmony between the treble and 1st tenor whilst the first C strain is virtually a tenor solo. The rest of the piece gains in intensity leading up to a furious grandioso. According to the cover of the original sheet music
Variety Rag was featured by Edwards, Ryan and Tierney.
Variety Rag was published by
Geo. W. Meyer Music Co., New York, USA.
A tempo of 80 crotchets/min. is suggested.
