Joplin arr. Thorp – Bethena, A Concert Waltz (String Quartet)

Scott Joplin was born into a poor black family in Texas in 1868, just three years after the abolition of slavery. As a teenager he left home to work as a saloon pianist in St Louis, a cosmopolitan Mississippi port and the birthplace of Ragtime, the lively piano style which had developed from syncopated minstrel songs and dances. Among many talented black pianists Joplin was the first with the ability to set down in musical notation this new art form. Besides rags Joplin wrote other sorts of piano music such as the graceful Bethena, which he called a concert waltz, arranged here for string quartet by Bill Thorp.

Review: “A clever arrangement of a well know tune from the talented pen of Bill Thorp. Originally made for the practical reason of having new and interesting music for regular dates in some of London’s famour pizza parlours, the arrangements are also suitable for concerts, encores, or just enjoyment. For schools, studios, professionals.” – New Issues October 1994

Biography

Thorp, Bill

Bill Thorp, born in 1952, started arranging music, while still at school, as a member of a folk group in which he played string bass. More experience followed with a college based acoustic folk-rock bank, playing violin, viola and piano, which went on to work professionally for two years. Later, in a varied career which included performing with string quartets at some of London's pizza restaurants, he was prompted to arrange music especially for that grouping and situation. Nowadays his playing career ranges from appearing on Renaissance, Baroque and Classical Violin with most of London's period instrument groups, to odd recording sessions on country and western fiddle.