Ragging the Scale, a lovely title that sums up the program, can be understood as “playing the scale in ragtime.”

Indeed, far from the rigor of classical scale playing, Claypoole humorously and skillfully presents ascending and descending scales over a rhythmic pulse and lively syncopation characteristic of ragtime. The combination is unusual but works wonderfully.

The form also borrows from the fairly regular structure of ragtime:

4-bar intro
AA of 16X2 bars
BB of 16X2 bars
A of 16 bars
C (Trio) of 16 modulating bars
D irregular of 12 bars (which quotes part of A)
C' of 16 measures concluding
- Note that the inversion of voices (regular ascending then descending scale/syncopated accompaniment) which justifies the notation in C and C' does not exist in the original score for solo piano where C is identical both times.

A tour de force by the composer, who manages to make an otherwise dull exercise appealing, Ragging the Scale is a nod from musician to musician and to a knowledgeable audience.

Frédéric Cellier

Edward Browne Claypoole was an American pianist and composer born on December 20, 1883, in Baltimore, Maryland, and died on February 16, 1952, in the same city. He belonged to a generation of musicians who helped popularize ragtime and other popular musical forms in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a pivotal period when jazz began to emerge from African American and urban traditions.

Claypoole, who was largely self-taught on the piano, composed an abundant series of piano pieces over more than forty years, often published as rags, foxtrots, or other forms of light music intended for both amateur musicians and for performances in salons and small theaters. Among his most famous compositions is Ragging the Scale (1915), a piece that humorously and skillfully displays ascending and descending scales over a rhythmic pulse and lively syncopation characteristic of ragtime.

His catalog, which spans from 1899 to 1941, illustrates a great versatility in the popular style of the time: cake walks, rags, oriental-style intermezzi, foxtrots, and pieces with a narrative or picturesque character. Notable works include Hike to the Pike (1904), Alabama Jigger (1913), American Jubilee (1916), and Dusting the Keys (1922), pieces that demonstrate his ability to combine rhythmic marching, humor, and appealing melody.

His music, both popular and inventive, was played and published in numerous collections of piano scores of the time, and some of his works continue to be revisited by musicians specializing in the ragtime repertoire.

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