Society's Pet (1914)
Half and Half
Last updated: 28.01.22
Please note that for bandwidth reasons, both the displayed score and the *.mp3 
file which can be listened to are of low quality (96 dpi and 48kbps respectively) 
and do not reflect the high quality of the delivered products.The delivered score 
format is A4 and printed with high quality.
Composer: M. Franklin Suppliers: dbe15.gif
Editor: Geoff Grainger Quintet T/T/T+B/B/GB(B)
Publisher: Ditty Box Enterprises Publication: DBE 520
Add to cart:
other.gif
Purchasing information Notice for leaders/bass players
Length: approx. 2¼ mins.
Society's Pet is an intriguing piece absolutely untypical of the ragtime period. Perhaps an experiment or study, its form is ABAC using the minor keys of a, d and c with a time signature of, wait for it, 5/4, predating Paul Desmond's Take Five by several decades. The subtitle Half and Half seems to suggest that the composer intended 5/4 to be interpreted as 3/4 + 2/4, particularly as the bars in the original piano score are thus sub-divided with vertical dotted lines. Educationally this may be not a bad way to get a grip on the complexities of the 5/4 world but this editor holds that that 5/4 should be played straight avoiding the beginner's tendency to stretch a 2/4 into a 3/4 and thus possibly making a jig out of it! The melodies are sonorous, pleasing, reflective and elegant in their simplicity. All in all an excellent entry piece into the rhythmic delights of 5/4.
Society's Pet was published by The Knickerbocker Music Co., New York, USA.
A tempo of 120 crotchets/min. is suggested.

  Instruments Performer
     
  DBE MP3 Sample 
audiodbemp315.gif T/T/T+B/B/GB(B) Midi Ragtime Recorder Ens.