FOLIO
REVIEW BY Jack Rummel
Rags and other pieces for piano by John Vouliouris
Baby in the Pram – a classic rag / Poor Children Rag / Pink Daisy Rag / Golden
Butterfly Waltz – syncopated waltz / Ballet Theater Rag / Twilight Rag / Corfu
Rag / Old House Rag / A Day in the Country / Fantasia over A Day in the Country
/ The Daybreak Song / Old Time Tango / Tropical Dream / Sunny Walk.
John Vouliouris was born in Athens, Greece in 1945. He studied physics in
Greece and in the U.K., and recently retired after a 30-year career in the
telecommunications industry. More pertinent to this review, he has had a
long-standing love for ragtime. He has had piano and harmony lessons in the
Hellenic Conservatory in Athens, has given various lecture-concerts about
ragtime and has produced a series of radio programs on ragtime for the Greek
radio. This folio is his first publication.
His compositions are in the intermediate range of difficulty in the keys of
A to B-flat. All except the waltzes are written in 4/4 time and have suggested
metronome readings between 118 and-174. All are quite melodic and afford
pleasant listening. Of the rags, I was most attracted to Pink Daisy Rag
and Ballet Theater Rag. Three of the compositions are in 3/4 time, of
which the Golden Butterfly Waltz is a real standout, but The Daybreak
Song and Sunny Walk are very nice.
This is a very professionally produced product. The music typesetting is
crisp and accurate and the composer’s notes have a friendly feeling: as he
describes what led to the composition of each piece, the reader is left with the
sense that Vouliouris has known you for some time. (If you can read Greek,
there’s a special page of composer’s notes just for you!) A marvelous addition
is a CD of the composer playing his works. A bonus track contains a live
recording of a traditional “Corfu Dance,” with its characteristic sequence of
melodies which inspired the writing of Corfu Rag.
Ragtime’s popularity over time has spread to include almost every European
country. Now Greece is officially represented and John Vouliouris is doing a
fine job. If you are seeking some new works to explore, this folio would make a
good choice.
The folio, with the accompanied CD, is available for $15 or €15 from John
Vouliouris, 11,Reas St., Filothei, Athens 152 37 Greece or by sending an email
to <jvoul@otenet.gr>. Payment can be made by PayPal.