of the polka, or its analog, the Sousa-style march." With this as a foundation, Joplin intended his compositions to be played exactly as he wrote them—without improvisation. Joplin wrote his rags as "classical" music in miniature form in order to raise ragtime above its "cheap bordello" origins and produced work that opera historian Elise Kirk described as "more tuneful, contrapuntal, infectious, and harmonically colorful than any others of his era." Some speculate that Joplin's achievements were influenced by his classically trained German music teacher Julius Weiss, who may have brought a polka rhythmic sensibility from the old country to the 11-year old Joplin. As Curtis put it, "The educated German could open up the door to a world of learning and music of which young Joplin was largely unaware." Joplin's first and most significant hit, the "Maple Leaf Rag", was described as the archetype of the classic rag and influenced subsequent rag composers for at least 12 years after its initial publication, thanks to its rhythmic patterns, melody lines, and harmony, though with the exception of Joseph Lamb and James Scott, they generally failed to enlarge upon it. Joplin used the Maple Leaf Rag as inspiration for subsequent works, such as The Cascades in 1903, Leola in 1905, Gladiolus Rag in 1907, and Sugar Cane Rag in 1908. While he used similar harmonic and melodic patterns, the later compositions were not simple copies but were distinctly new works, which used dissonance, chromatic sections and the blues third. Treemonisha The opera's setting is a former slave community in an isolated forest near Joplin's childhood town Texarkana in September 1884. The plot centers on an 18-year-old woman Treemonisha who is taught to read by a white woman and then leads her community against the influence of conjurers who prey on ignorance and superstition. Treemonisha is abducted and is about to be thrown into a wasps' nest when her friend Remus rescues her. The community realizes the value of education and the liability of their ignorance before choosing her as their teacher and leader. Joplin wrote both the score and the libretto for the opera, which largely follows the form of European opera with many conventional arias, ensembles and choruses. In addition, the themes of superstition and mysticism evident in Treemonisha are common in the operatic tradition, and certain aspects of the plot echo devices in the work of the German composer Richard