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Julius Weiss (born in 1840 or 1841) was a German-born American music professor, best known for being Scott Joplin's "first piano teacher." He is credited with inspiring and influencing Joplin, considered "the king of ragtime," during his early years. He taught Joplin music and other subjects for a number of years, beginning when Joplin was eleven years old, and did so free of cost. Joplin's parents, former slaves,〔Waldo, Terry. ''This is Ragtime'', Hawthorn Books, Inc. (1976) p. 49〕 had no way to pay for private lessons.〔Albrecht, Theodore "Julius Weiss: Scott Joplin's First Piano Teacher." 19. Case Western Univ. College Music Symposium. (1979) pp. 89–105〕 One writer refers to Weiss as "legendary," since little was known about him until 60 years after Joplin's death. Joplin's widow recalls that in her husband's "later years (1907 to 1917), he sent his teacher, by then ill and poor, gifts of money from time to time," until "the older man died."〔 ==Early life and career== Weiss was born in Saxony, Germany, of Jewish heritage.〔 His parents were also born in Saxony.〔 He graduated from the University of Saxony, presumably when he was 19. He moved to the United States in the late 1860s and first settled in St. Louis, Missouri, in order to teach music. In the late 1870s he was hired to privately tutor the children of a wealthy landowner in the lumber industry, Robert W. Rodgers, in Texarkana, Texas. After moving to Texarkana he taught the Rodgers children various subjects, including German, astronomy, mathematics, and violin. He also took on other students in town, and listed his profession with the town recorder as "Professor of music."〔 Musicologist Edward Berlin notes that one of Mr. Rodgers' children credited Weiss for having inspired his lifelong appreciation and love of opera.〔Berlin, Edward A. ''King of Ragtime: Scott Joplin and His Era'', Oxford Univ. Press (1996)〕 According to Joplin biographer, Rudi Blesh, Weiss, then about age 39, "heard young Joplin play and as a result gave him free lessons in piano, sight reading, and the principles to extend and confirm his natural instinct for harmony."〔 Although young Joplin was said to have received some beginner's guidance from local teachers, it was Weiss who first introduced Joplin "to European art music," and the "European masters."〔 Blesh writes that "the professor is said to have played the classics for him, and to have talked of the great composers, and especially of the famous operas."〔 Berlin points out that Weiss, through his teaching, had "a profound influence on the young Joplin."〔 It is assumed that "the essence of what Weiss accomplished was to impart to Scott an appreciation of music as an art as well as an entertainment. Weiss helped shape Joplin's aspirations and ambitions toward high artistic goals,"〔 by introducing him to theories of music composition, European culture, and the benefits of education. During that time, however, Joplin's father left his wife and six children, forcing her to take menial house-care jobs for income.〔 To make sure young Joplin would continue practicing, Weiss found a used piano from one of his other students and helped Joplin's mother buy it. Weiss continued teaching Joplin for about five years, at no cost, until his employment with the Rodgers family ended and he moved away. Albrecht speculates that without his father present, the young Joplin "may have found a substitute in his teacher - an 'intellectual parent'"〔 Joplin's widow notes that in his later years after he became a recognized composer, Joplin kept in touch with Weiss, and upon learning that Weiss was ill and poor, sent him "gifts of money from time to time," until Weiss died.〔 As an adult, Joplin taught music to aspiring pianists, some of whom became notable composers of ragtime. "They looked upon him almost as a hero," adds Berlin.〔 Joplin himself enrolled in a college of music in his late 20s, an indication, writes Berlin, of his "respect for education."〔 Joplin had obviously "had some training in fundamental theory," historian John Hasse points out, in order for him to enroll in advanced harmony and composition courses at the college.〔 Whereas Larry Walz, of The Texas State Historical Association believes that "Weiss was surely the inspiration for Scott Joplin's quest to continue his musical education."〔(Texas State Historical Association: Julius Weiss )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Julius Weiss」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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