Pineapple Rag (Scott Joplin)

This rag was written in 1906 is by James Scott (1885 - 1938), who along with Scott Joplin and Joseph Lamb are generally considered the three greatest composers of classical ragtime.   This is the first rag published by John Stark, Joplin's musical publisher, and it became an instant hit.  

Frog Legs (James Scott)

Another classic rag from the pen of Joseph F. Lamb (1887-1960), published in 1916.  It was one of twelve rags published in his lifetime by John Stark, who was the same publisher of the majority of the Scott Joplin Rags.   This rag is said to be one of the "heavy rags" of Lamb which coupled the melody dominated style of Scott Joplin with the expansive use of keyboard registers, pioneered by James Scott.

Top Liner Rag (Joseph Lamb)

Ernesto Nazareth (1863 - 1934) is an important early composer of Brazilian tangos.  He made his living as a pianist playing in cafes, balls, society parties and in the lobby of movie theaters.  This tango is named after the famous Odeon Theatre in Rio de Janeiro where Nazareth played in the 1920s.

Odeon (by Ernesto Nazareth)

Danny Boy

Prelude to a Kiss

Autumn in New York

A swing arrangement of the standard Witchcraft by Nikki Illes and inspired by Frank Sinatra

Witchcraft (arr. N. Illes)

A delightful Satie parody of ragtime piano.

Le Piccadilly (Erik Satie)

Solace, A Mexican Serenade (Scott Joplin)

One of the classical rags of Scott Joplin, The Entertainer.

The Entertainer (Scott Joplin)

This is Prelude #8 in A-flat minor, Op. 31 by Charles Valentin Alkan.

The Song of the Mad Woman on the Seashore

Musica Callada III

With all of the news about the Catalonia region in the news, I thought this was a good moment to share my recordings of the first four "Musica Callada" ("Music of Silence) by Frederico Mompou, one of the more prominent composers of te 20th century from Catalonia.

Musica Callada I

This is a wonderful arrangement by George Shearing of the standard hit "Over the Rainbow" from the 1938 classic movie "The Wizard of Oz."

Over The Rainbow

This is a medley of two George Shearing arrangements of Johnny Mercer's theme music from the Movie "Laura" from 1945 and the Duke Ellington standard "I've Got It Bad and That Ain't Good."

Laura I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good

The beautiful Ashokan Farewell by Jay Unger featured as the theme song in the Civil War series by Ken Burns.

Ashokan Farewell

One of Scott Joplin's best rags from 1907.

Searchlight Rag

I am a retired physician who has been a life long pianist and music lover.  Despite a busy professional career outside of music, I have managed to practice the piano daily, gradually learning new pieces, and expanding my piano repertory.  I began recording my piano repertory over thirty years ago.

My musical training started out on the accordion at age six.  Later in my early teens, I began to play the piano, developing an instant love for the great piano classics of Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart and Bach.  I took formal music lessons through undergraduate college, and have been self taught since then.  

At the age of 21, I moved to New York City to study medicine, and purchased the then just published "Complete Rags of Scott Joplin".  Thus began a lifelong love for American classic ragtime.  At the age of 40,  I discovered the tangos and waltzes of Ernesto Nazareth, instantly becoming another one of my true loves in the vast worldwide piano literature.    My current performance and recorded repertory includes music from the Baroque, Classic, Romantic and Modern periods.  At one time, I took a run at playing all of the Scarlatti keyboard sonatas - I am still on this run as it is a true marathon, not a sprint!   At the present time I am studying the Inventions and Sinfonias of J.S. Bach.   My most recent repertory includes "new tangos" by Astor Piazzolla, the Anniversary pieces of Leonard Bernstein, and the Etudes of Philip Glass.  I hope to present recording in the near future these and other composers with upcoming tracks on SoundCloud. 

In the 1980s, I began to do home recordings of my piano repertory.  My initial recordings were acoustic on tape, but were not terribly successful.  However in the 1990s, I began to record digitally using my electric piano and midi software.    Currently all of my recordings are done using my Technics Electric Piano using Apple Garage Band software.  I realize the sound using the virtual Ivory Grand Piano software.  Recording digitally has been a much more successful tool for me than recording acoustically. 

Over the years I have put together seven different privately issued CDs using recorded tracks from my "Piano Diaries".  These CDs have been shared with family and friends as Christmas gifts.  

in 2014 I I began sharing my music on SoundCloud with a wider audience, beginning with my "Twelve Classic American Rags" which I recorded in 2009.  I've been very gratified and pleased with the response that these rags elicited from the worldwide SoundCloud community.  I have also encountered, enjoyed and been in turn influenced by many other piano artists and composers that I follow through SoundCloud.  For a amateur piano artist, SoundCloud has allowed me to expand to an audience a d interact with other artists that I never dreamed possible when I began studying the piano fifty years ago.

Douglas Hadley

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