Composers Datebook

Many good things come in threes—at least William Bolcom seems to think so. On today’s date in 1971, in a converted garage next to a graveyard in Newburgh, New York, American composer and pianist William Bolcom put the finishes touches to this music, the second of three piano pieces he collectively titled “Ghost Rags.” “Ghost Rag” No. 2 was titled “Poltergeist” and was dedicated to Tracey Sterne, who at that time was a dynamic record producer at Nonesuch Records. In her youth Sterne pursued a career as a concert pianist, but in the 1960s and 70s was responsible for assembling the Nonesuch label’s astonishingly diverse catalog of old, new and world music. “Ghost Rag” No. 3, titled “Dream Shadows,” was described by Bolcom as a “white rag” which evoked “the era of white telephones and white pianos” and “was in the white key of C Major.” Bolcom dedicated this rag to his fellow composer William Albright. And Bolcom’s “Ghost Rag” No. 1, which has proved to be the most popular of the three, was titled “Graceful Ghost.” Bolcom dedicated this music to the memory of his father, whose benign spirit Bolcom said he often felt hovering around his piano while he played at night.