Paul Fearn/Alamy Scott Joplin, called the “King of Ragtime,” published the most successful of the early rags, “The Maple Leaf Rag,” in 1899. Joplin, who considered ragtime a permanent and serious branch of classical music, composed hundreds of short pieces, a set of études, and operas in the style. Other important performers were, in St. Louis, Louis Chauvin and Thomas M. Turpin (father of St. Louis ragtime) and, in New Orleans, Tony Jackson. Though ragtime’s heyday was relatively short-lived, the music influenced the later development of jazz. Ragtime experienced occasional revivals, most notably in the 1970s. During that decade pianist Joshua Rifkin released the acclaimed album