[3] At the time, Joplin's principal claim to fame was the publication in 1899 of the Maple Leaf Rag, which became a best-selling instrumental hit, and provided the composer with a steady income for the rest of his life from the royalties.

[4] In the fall of 1903, Joplin lost a large amount of money on the national tour of his first opera, A Guest of Honor, when the box office receipts were stolen by an unidentified associate.

[11][12] Biographer Edward A. Berlin speculated that this dedication was unusual because the Davenports were not able to help Joplin professionally by showcasing his work or commissioning more, but was a recognition of the personal support that they had given him through the difficult time after Freddie's death.

It has been claimed that the image is of Freddie from her wedding day, although positive identification is made more difficult because the photograph on the cover of the piece does not show the subject's race clearly.

The "sadly poignant",[7] "graceful, wistful" and tenderly nostalgic[19] mood is partly dictated by this main theme, which starts with the melody note A harmonised against a G major chord thus creating a dissonance.

[16] The Cakewalk was a popular African-American dance which originated in plantation slave communities in nineteenth century America, and ultimately contributed to the musical style Ragtime.

[17] The left hand follows the standard approach of classical waltzes, with a bass note followed by two mid-range chords, and in addition there are some contrapuntal passages[24] where two melodies move independently but complement each other harmonically.

In the opening phrase (bars 77–81) of the "rag-like"[19] C theme in the key of F major, counterpoint is evident with the harmony of the treble moving in contrary motion to the bass line in a similar way to that used in the B section.

In the treble, the harmony falls from F to D, while the bass rises from F to G-sharp[21] It is not clear what the composition's reception was at the time, and the piece's publication by a company which had little previous experience of this endeavour indicate that there was little positive impact on the composer's financial problems.

[32] The performance of the composition by the pianist Randy Kerber was described by one critic on National Public Radio as "letting the inherent wistfulness of the music emerge", with the piece "perfectly suited" to the movie as it was a "tender and heartfelt remembrance of a love lost".

[33] Joplin biographer Edward A. Berlin believed that Bethena was "an enchantingly beautiful piece that is among the greatest of ragtime waltzes" because of the repeated main theme in G major, the contrapuntal passages, and the harmonies.

[1] Another biographer, Rudi Blesh, wrote that the work was a "masterpiece", thanks to its rhythmic variations, the beauty of each strain's melodies and the richly scored harmony, especially when considered in comparison to the unsyncopated light salon style of Binks Waltz published in the same year.