Scarecrow Rag - Sax Quartet

Scarecrow Rag
By Will B. Morrison, Arranged for Saxophone Quartet  (SATB) by Hugh Levey

Why stick with the usual rags by Scott Joplin (great though they are)? Show your creative programming, intrigue your audiences and have fun with this great 1911 rag by American composer Will B. Morrison! Arranged by a saxophonist and clarinetist so that all parts are satisfying to play.

William Burdette Morrison (1874 to 1937) was a little known American composer of songsand piano music, who later became a publisher and arranger of others’ work. His first known compositions date from 1898 but it was two years later that he started using syncopation in a series of cakewalks for piano. 

Scarecrow Rag was written in 1911 andmakes good use of syncopation; a key feature of the ragtime style. It starts with adescending diminished 7th arpeggio before settling into the key of C major for the main syncopated theme. The central Trio section, in F major, starts off hesitantly, but soon bursts into life with a delightful bubbly theme.

This arrangement for Clarinet Quartet remains faithful to the original piano version. It retains the original structure, melody, bass line and harmonies throughout. However, it does fill out some of the passage-work in a manner that the composer may have chosen to do, if he had not been restrained by the capabilities of a piano and two hands. This is mainly in the Trio section and adds to the enjoyments of the players and I hope the audience too.

Duration: 3'
Programme and Performance Notes: 1 page
Score: 8 pages
Parts: 8 pages