Little Black Baby, An Afro-American Suite, is a selection of four short early pieces by Scott Joplin.

N°1 March, originally called Combination March, is one of his first published compositions and dates from 1896. It reflects the period's taste for joyful, lively parades.

N°2 Lullaby, published in 1903 as Little Black Baby, gives its name to our instrumental suite. Originally sung to lyrics by an obscure Chicago poet, Louise Armstrong Bristol, the lullaby itself alternates with a nursery rhyme, the whole touching in its simplicity and obviously childlike purpose.

N°3 Waltz is the first piece (1895) published by Joplin under the title Please Say you Will. Probably sung by the composer himself, who also wrote the lyrics, this charming waltz may have been part of the repertoire of the Texas Medley Quartet, a vocal ensemble of which he was then leader, pianist and soloist, along with his brothers Robert and Will Joplin.

N°4 Rag, the latest and most syncopated of our four pieces, is made up of the first two themes from The Chrysanthemum (1904). Originally subtitled Afro-American Intermezzo, it is said to have been inspired by reading Alice in Wonderland.

Frédéric Cellier

Scott Joplin was born around 1868 in Texarkana, on the border between Texas and Arkansas, into a modest African-American family. From a very young age, he showed exceptional talent for piano and composition, training in both European classical music and the popular African-American rhythms that were spreading across the southern United States. This dual musical training shaped his unique style: he combined the harmonic and formal rigor of the classical tradition with the vitality, syncopation, and accents characteristic of ragtime.

Joplin quickly became one of the leading promoters of ragtime, a genre that emerged in the 1890s and enjoyed immense success in salons, café-concerts, and dance halls. He composed more than 40 pieces for solo piano, including the famous “Maple Leaf Rag” (1899) and “The Entertainer,” which brought him international fame. His music is distinguished by percussive rhythmic motifs, clear and melodious melodies, and a balanced formal structure, reminiscent of classical forms while infusing the energy and premises of nascent jazz.

In 1911, Scott Joplin attempted to take a major step forward: he composed the opera Treemonisha, an ambitious work combining ragtime, choral music, and elements of lyric theater. The opera illustrated his vision of authentic American music, capable of telling the story and aspirations of the African American community, while remaining part of the classical art tradition. Ignored during his lifetime, the opera was rediscovered and performed in the 20th century, confirming the modernity and richness of his artistic approach.

Scott Joplin died in 1917 in New York, in poverty and relative obscurity, a victim of an era that did not fully appreciate the contribution of African American musicians. Yet his influence on the development of jazz, ragtime, and American popular music is immense. Today, Scott Joplin is celebrated as the king of ragtime, a composer whose writing was rigorous, inventive, and personal, with undeniable seductive charm, capable of combining technical virtuosity, expressiveness, and rhythmic vitality.

Along his university studies (DEA in musicology, University of Paris IV-Sorbonne), Frédéric Cellier was awarded three first prizes and a development prize at the CNR of Nice and won first prize at the International Competition of Musical Execution - soloist category – of Stresa (Italy).

He is the laureate of the Fondation de France and the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation and accredited teacher at the CNR of Nice, the CNR of Marseille, and at the CRR Olivier Messiaen of Avignon (France).

Frédéric Cellier is the interpreter of Francis Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet Bb and piano with Jean-Michel Damase, Jean Françaix or Gabriel Tacchino, as well as his own arrangements for clarinet and harp of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies and Gnossiennes with the great French harpist Elizabeth Fontan-Binoche, and for clarinet, piano, and string orchestra of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in blue for Wynton Marsalis or under the baton of Adrian Gershwin, grandson of the composer.

Founder and artistic director of STRADIVARIUS Editions, he is the author of light music pieces played around the world and a considerable number of arrangements of all styles and for all instruments, acclaimed by many personalities in the music world, including Michèle Auric, Jean Françaix, Adrian Gershwin, Wynton Marsalis, Yehudi Menuhin, Madeleine Milhaud, Manuel Rosenthal, Gabriel Tacchino, and Ornella Volta.

"Frédéric Cellier has produced a number of adaptations of Georges Auric's works with such talent and precision that I consider them a natural addition to his chamber music catalogue."
Michèle AURIC - Georges Auric's widow

"To Frédéric Cellier, excellent musician and tireless arranger."
Jean FRANÇAIX - Composer and pianist

"Arranging a musical work is always a delicate and risky exercise, because it requires both modifying it so that it can be played by the desired instruments and preserving its very essence. But that is exactly what Frédéric Cellier has done, preserving the nuances, subtleties and soul of the original works while breathing new life into them.
His arrangements give all the musicians the chance to perform these compositions specially revisited for their instrument, and make music lovers rediscover them in a new light."
Adrian GERSHWIN - George Gershwin’s grandson

"Congratulations for your beautiful new orchestration and rendition of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in blue."
Wynton MARSALIS - Trumpet player, composer, bandleader, general and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York

"It is outstanding that Frédéric Cellier has managed to transpose Saxophone Marmalade from the saxophone to the clarinet. I thank him for it and wish its great and deserved success. "
Manuel ROSENTHAL - Conductor, composer and Maurice Ravel’s pupil

"I am very happy to tell you how much I appreciated your transcription of the Capriccio, based on Francis Poulenc's Le Bal Masqué. It perfectly reflects the spirit and verve of the score for two pianos that I had the opportunity to play and record with Jacques Février, and it was a great pleasure for me to premiere it in Montpellier."
Gabriel TACCHINO - Pianist, Francis Poulenc’s specialist

"I must tell you that I really like your transcriptions and that I think the tone of the instruments you have chosen suits perfectly our beloved composer."
Ornella VOLTA - Musicologist, president of the Erik Satie’s Foundation