"That International Rag" is a song composed by Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...

 in 1913. Berlin wrote the song the night before its debut, when he needed a new opening number for his act while on tour in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Days before the song's composition, Berlin held a press conference that backfired and led the public to question his musical talent. He wanted to impress his audience with a new song, so he stayed up overnight to compose the number and completed it just before his matinee in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. The performance was well received; it did well on vaudeville

Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...

 and in early sound recordings. The song later appeared in Hollywood films.

Background

In 1913, Berlin accepted an invitation to cross the Atlantic and perform in London. It was his second trip to England, so he called a press conference shortly after his arrival. This decision would have been normal business practice by Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley

Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...

 standards, but it appeared very brash to the British public. Berlin considered the press conference to be even more important than his scheduled appearance at the Hippodrome

Hippodrome, London

The Hippodrome is a building on the corner of Charing Cross Road and Leicester Square in the City of Westminster, London. The name was used for many different theatres and music halls, of which the London Hippodrome is one of only a few survivors...

; his reputation depended more upon the impression he created for the journalists than on how he performed in a single theater.

Berlin made one mistake at the press conference that led to a backlash in the press and started a rumor that would follow him for decades. After admitting that he could neither read nor write music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

, he offered to compose a song on the spot to any title the journalists chose. One suggested "The Humming Rag", and he created the tune within an hour. In Berlin's enthusiasm to show off his talent for fast composition, he forgot to consider the impression he created when he tapped out the melody

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

 for his musical secretary with a single finger. Soon the public was reading that he was not only illiterate in music, but unable to play the piano. Those envious of his success called him "nothing but a hustling, hard-sell sham". As opening night drew near, he discovered that all of his hit songs were already well known to the British public. Needing a new number to open his act, and he composed "That International Rag" overnight in a panic.

Composition

Berlin stayed up the night before his opening performance to create a new song. He was incapable of composing alone because he was primarily a lyricist who created melodies, so he worked with a musical secretary Cliff Hess, who transcribed and arranged the piece. As Berlin readily confessed, "I don't know anything about harmony; but I can make tunes".

They made little progress until around four in the morning. When their work began to disturb neighboring guests at the Savoy Hotel, Berlin answered complaints by filling the piano with bathroom towels in order to muffle the sound. He completed the chorus and began writing the second verse around sunrise.

London dropped its dignity

So has France and Germany

All hands are dancing to a raggedy melody

Full of originality

"That International Rag" was completed just in time for its first performance. Berlin later described his method of composition in the following words: "I sweat blood... Absolutely. I sweat blood between 3 and 6 many mornings, and when the drops that fall off my forehead hit the paper they're notes."

Despite the song's title, critics doubt whether the work is actually ragtime

Ragtime

Ragtime is an original musical genre which enjoyed its peak popularity between 1897 and 1918. Its main characteristic trait is its syncopated, or "ragged," rhythm. It began as dance music in the red-light districts of American cities such as St. Louis and New Orleans years before being published...

. David Blanke explains the distinction between Tin Pan Alley rag and classic rag

Classic Rag

Classic Rag is a term used to describe the style of ragtime composition pioneered by Scott Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers...

 in the following manner:
As critic Gilbert Chase

Gilbert Chase

Gilbert Chase was an American music historian, critic and author, and a "seminal figure in the field of musicology and ethnomusicology....

 quips, Berlin's Hippodrome billing as "King of Ragtime" during this tour was "not a total misnomer if we add 'white, commercial, synthetic'." A kinder Gary Giddins

Gary Giddins

Gary Giddins is an American jazz critic, author, and director, best known for his longtime work with The Village Voice. Born in Brooklyn, and raised on Long Island, Giddins graduated from Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1970...

 concludes "it wasn't ragtime, but it was authentic Americana and it did the trick."

Reception

Berlin's performance at the song's debut softened the impression that his initial press conference had given, and it settled some of the doubts about his musical talent.
Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker

Sophie Tucker was a Russian/Ukrainian-born American singer and actress. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first half of the 20th century...

 introduced the song to vaudeville, and the Victor Military Band saw success with an early recording. In 1938 "That International Rag" appeared as a number in the Twentieth Century Fox film Alexander's Ragtime Band

Alexander's Ragtime Band (film)

Alexander's Ragtime Band is a film released by Twentieth Century Fox that takes its name from the 1911 Irving Berlin song "Alexander's Ragtime Band" to tell a story of a society boy who scandalizes his family by pursuing a career in Ragtime instead of in "serious" music...

. It was also used in the 1948 MGM film Easter Parade, and in 1953's Call Me Madam

Call Me Madam (film)

Call Me Madam is a 1953 musical film directed by Walter Lang, with songs by Irving Berlin, based on the stage musical of the same name.The film, with a screenplay by Arthur Sheekman, starred Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor, Vera-Ellen, Billy DeWolfe, George Sanders, and Walter Slezak...

.