Talk:List of ragtime composers

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Dearth of women ragtime composers
With a few exceptions there seems on this list to be a serious lack of recognition of the many women who composed/compose and played/play ragtime. I am taking steps to remedy this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.89.176.249 (talk) 00:24, 4 February 2020 (UTC)


 * To be fair, the most famous and prolific composers were male. 25galepley (talk) 02:23, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Billy Joel?
To the best of my knowledge, Billy Joel composed exactly ONE rag-like piece: the Root Beer Rag. I'm not sure that's sufficient work in the genre to justify his inclusion in a list of "Ragtime Composers". If it is, this is going to become a VERY long list; there are a lot of people who wrote one rag in their career, and no more. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.95.43.253 (talk) 22:33, 4 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Yeah. Paul McCartney stood out even more. 25galepley (talk) 02:25, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Purpose of this list
Is the purpose this article to provide a list of composers who are primarily know as ragtime composers? Or is the purpose to provide a list of any composer who had ever composed even a single ragtime work?

If the former, then there are a number of people listed who clearly do not belong here: George Gershwin; Claude Debussy; John Phillip Sousa; Igor Stravinsky; Dave Brubeck; Keith Emerson; Billy Joel; and Tom Lehrer, just to name the ones that jumped out at me. None of these people were/are primarily known as ragtime composers, and most of them only have one or two pieces among their entire compositional output that might be considered "ragtime-style" pieces. I mean, c'mon -- if someone says "name three great ragtime composers", are the ones that leap to your mind really Stravinsky, Debuyssy, and Billy Joel?

On the other hand, if the latter is the intent, then a great number of composers are missing. Most of the women composers from the ragtime era, for example. Antonín Dvořák "Symphony: From the New World"; Erik Satie "Ragtime du Paquebot"; Darius Milhaud " Le boeuf sur le toite"; Arthur Honegger "Prélude et Blues"; Aaron Copland "Piano Concerto"; Peter Maxwell Davies (last movement of his "Vesalii Icones"; Jorma Kaukonen "I Am The Light of This World"; Bob Gibson "Twelve String Guitar Rag"; -- the list could go on considerably.  I will note that by this criterion one would be justified in calling Beethoven a "folk musician", since he wrote a bunch of arrangements of folk songs.

So. . . which is it? Anyone who ever wrote a ragtime piece, or just people primarily known for composing ragtime pieces? 74.95.43.253 (talk) 21:56, 12 July 2021 (UTC)


 * It is to give a wide range of ragtime styles and compositions. To just include classic ragtime would be narrow-minded and not representative of the diverse genre that is ragtime. Ragtime is not bound strictly to a certain arrangement of notes. Sure, it is on a technical level, but on a spiritual level, ragtime can be whatever you feel fits its vibe. I always have considered Gershwin in the same boat as Joplin, Lamb, Blake, Scott, Johnson, Turpin, etc., but it's all up to personal interpretation. But Paul McCartney is admittedly a stretch. 25galepley (talk) 02:35, 29 November 2023 (UTC)

Randy Newman
Why is Randy Newman not listed among post 1940 composers? He has so many pieces that it is hard to list. 2804:214:816E:4B81:EB6E:755B:2EB9:7500 (talk) 18:11, 3 February 2022 (UTC)

Peter Andersson - Date of birth
The date of birth listed here 1968 doesn’t match the linked page which says 1973. Don’t know what the correct date is. 80.192.238.117 (talk) 22:55, 11 February 2024 (UTC)