It is never right to play ragtime fast.

" Joplin historian Bill Ryerson adds that "In the hands of authentic practitioners like Joplin ragtime was a disciplined form capable of astonishing variety and subtlety. It sold 100000 copies in its first year and eventually became Nonesuch's first million-selling record. The roll however does not reflect his abilities earlier in life.

His second opera Treemonisha was not received well at its partially staged performance in 1915. The score to his first opera A Guest of Honor was confiscated in 1903 with his belongings owing to his non-payment of bills and is considered lost. During his brief career he wrote 44 original ragtime pieces one ragtime ballet and two operas.