Songs
What is the name of the 1st song Coalhouse Walker, Jr. plays on the piano to the news reels as soon as RAGTIME begins (right after we see the couple dancing to Randy Newman's "One More Hour")?
sharePart of the song is called "Newsreel" which was written by Randy Newman. He will eventually incorporate snippets of other songs, like "Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory". So, it's partly his, and partly arrangement of other American Songs from the time period that are in the public domain.
There were no Scott Joplin songs played in the movie, and that music would have been heard all over the place. In the book, Coalhouse Walker plays two Joplin pieces for the family when he comes to visit, not the classical piece by Chopin which is added to by Newman to make it his own.