Waiting For the Robert E Lee

This fun piece from 1912 was made popular by Al Jolson and other performers. It’s from the ragtime era (1900-1920) and is sometimes heard at ragtime festivals.

After seeing a version of this being played on a calliope, I found the original sheet music as published by F. A. Mills in 1912, and re-typeset it with just a few minor changes to improve the MIDI playback. The MIDI instrument “baritone sax” is supposed to mimic a calliope, but falls short.

The recommended tempo is 120 to the quarter note (duration 3:07 if using all repeats).