Great Crush Collision March by Scott Joplin (1896)

Details

Description

Original listing and sheet music here: https://musescore.com/user/36482158/scores/10251316?from=youtube_share
In 1896 an agent of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway named George Crush arranged to have a spectacular event occur in a deserted valley north of Waco, Texas. Two locomotives would be let loose to collide at full speed before a crowd of onlookers. Some 40,000 people showed up for the occasion. Unfortunately, upon impact the locomotives exploded sending shrapnel directly into the crowd, killing three and wounding more. Scott Joplin was touring northern Texas at the time and composed this march to memorialize the event. Published by John Fuller in Temple, Texas in 1896.

Original score source was from ragtimepiano.ca at this link:
http://www.ragtimepiano.ca/images/crushcol.pdf
This is a reproduction of the original score, but not the original event fortunately.

Bill Edwards performs "Great Crush Collision March". Stay onboard for the collision:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B39nLh3ueX4

Short video titled "The Crash at Crush" (thank you to JohnJ1995 for the link):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Un1vJycrw8

#ragtime #ragtimepiano #march #scottjoplin