![St_cecilia_guido_reni](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/St_cecilia_guido_reni.jpg)
Blind musicians are singers or instrumentalists, or in some cases singer-accompanists, who are legally
blind.
Resources
Historically, many blind musicians, including some of the most famous, have performed without the benefit of formal instruction, since such instruction relies extensively on written musical notation. However, today there are many resources available for blind musicians who wish to learn Western
music theory
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
and
classical notation.
Louis Braille
Louis Braille (; ; 4 January 1809 – 6 January 1852) was a French educator and the inventor of a reading and writing system, named braille after him, intended for use by visually impaired people. His system is used worldwide and remains virtua ...
, the man who created the
braille
Braille (Pronounced: ) is a tactile writing system used by people who are visually impaired, including people who are Blindness, blind, Deafblindness, deafblind or who have low vision. It can be read either on Paper embossing, embossed paper ...
alphabet for the blind, also created a system of classical notation for the blind called
Braille music
Braille music is a braille code that allows music to be notated using braille cells so music can be read by visually impaired musicians. The system was incepted by Louis Braille.
Braille music uses the same six-position braille cell as literary ...
. This system allows the blind to read and write music much as the sighted do. The largest collection of Braille musical scores is located at the
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
in Washington, D.C. Outside the U.S., the largest collection of braille music scores is stored at the
National Library for the Blind
The National Library for the Blind (NLB) was a public library in the United Kingdom, founded 1882, which aimed to ensure that people with sight problems have the same access to library services as sighted people. NLB was taken over by the Royal Na ...
in England.
Computer technology and the Internet make it possible in theory for blind musicians to be more independent in composing and studying music. In practice, however, most programs rely on
graphical user interface
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
s, which are difficult for the blind to
navigate
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
. There has been some progress in creating screen-reading interfaces for the blind, especially for the
Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
operating systems.
Today there are also several organizations devoted to the support of blind musicians. The National Resource Center for Blind Musicians and The Music Education Network for the Visually Impaired are dedicated to musical education for the blind.
Image
![Maler der Grabkammer des Nacht 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Maler_der_Grabkammer_des_Nacht_001.jpg)
The image of the blind musician is an important touchstone in many cultures, even where the influence of the blind on music has been limited. The idea of
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
, the blind poet, for example, has had a long existence in Western tradition, even though its basis in truth is uncertain. The legendary 6th century
Breton
Breton most often refers to:
*anything associated with Brittany, and generally
** Breton people
** Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany
** Breton (horse), a breed
**Ga ...
druid
A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...
and
bard
In Celtic cultures, a bard is a professional story teller, verse-maker, music composer, oral historian and genealogist, employed by a patron (such as a monarch or chieftain) to commemorate one or more of the patron's ancestors and to praise t ...
Kian Gwenc'hlan is depicted as
being imprisoned after having his eyes gouged out for refusing to convert to Christianity and singing out that he isn't afraid to die.
In his book ''
Singer of Tales'',
Albert Lord
Albert Bates Lord (15 September 1912 – 29 July 1991) was a professor of Slavic and comparative literature at Harvard University who, after the death of his mentor Milman Parry, carried on Parry's research on epic poetry.
Early life
Lord was bor ...
explains that in
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
he found many stories of blind musicians, but few current musicians who were actually blind. Natalie Kononenko had a similar experience in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, though one Turkish musician of great talent,
Ashik Veysel
An ashik ( az, aşıq, ; tr, âşık; fa, عاشیق) or ashugh ( hy, աշուղ; ka, აშუღი) is traditionally a singer-poet and bard who accompanies his song—be it a dastan (traditional epic story, also known as '' hikay ...
, was in fact blind.
The popularity of the idea of the blind musician has inspired several artists.
John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (; January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was an American expatriate artist, considered the "leading portrait painter of his generation" for his evocations of Edwardian-era luxury. He created roughly 900 oil paintings and more ...
painted a 1912 canvas based on this theme, and
Georges de La Tour
Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...
has a whole series of paintings devoted to blind musicians.
Though the idea of blind musicians may be even more prevalent than their actuality, it remains true that at many points in history and in many different cultures, blind musicians, individually or as a group, have made important contributions to the development of music. Some of these contributions are discussed below.
Blind musicians have also appeared in Muslim
harem
Harem (Persian: حرمسرا ''haramsarā'', ar, حَرِيمٌ ''ḥarīm'', "a sacred inviolable place; harem; female members of the family") refers to domestic spaces that are reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A hare ...
s to entertain the patron and his wives.
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
made a science fiction use of the "blind bard" theme in "
The Green Hills of Earth
"The Green Hills of Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. One of his Future History stories, the short story originally appeared in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' (February 8, 1947), and it was collected ...
".
Blind Musicians in Tradition
In China
Court musician was a traditional profession for the blind in China in antiquity. The first musician mentioned in Chinese sources,
Shi Kuang, was a blind performer in the 6th century BC. The Guilds of Blind Musicians and Fortune-Tellers, which were still around in China during the middle of the 20th century, claimed to have existed as far back as 200 BC. More recently, groups of blind buskers have continued to perform in Zuoquan County, and presumably in other areas as well.
One of the most popular musical works in China, "
Erquan Yingyue (Moon Reflected in the Second Spring)", was composed in the first half of the 20th century by
Hua Yanjun
Abing (; 17 August 1893 – 4 December 1950), born as Hua Yanjun (), was a blind Chinese musician specializing in the ''erhu'' and ''pipa''.
Life
Abing was born on August 17, 1893, in the eastern Chinese city of Wuxi to father Hua Qinghe, ...
, better known as "Blind Ah Bing".
In Japan
In Japan,
Heike Biwa Heike may refer to:
* Heike (given name), a (not exclusively) feminine given name, derived from the male name Anri (Henry)
* Taira clan, sometimes referred to as "Heike"
* Heike crab, a species of crab named after the Taira (Heike) clan
* Heike On ...
, a form of narrative music, was invented and spread during the
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
(1185–1333) by traveling musicians known as
biwa hoshi
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...
, who were often blind. These musicians played the
biwa
The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime duri ...
, a kind of lute, and recited stories, of which the most famous was
The Tale of the Heike
is an epic poetry, epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being ...
. The musicians were sometimes known as "blind priests" because they wore robes and shaved their heads, though they were not in fact
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
priests.
Goze
is a Japanese historic term referring to visually-impaired Japanese women, most of whom worked as musicians.
Etymology
The ideographs for mean "blind" and "woman." The kanji are so because the individual ideograph for already existed. is m ...
were similar communities of visually impaired female
shamisen
The , also known as the or
(all meaning "three strings"), is a three-stringed traditional Japanese musical instrument derived from the Chinese instrument . It is played with a plectrum called a bachi.
The Japanese pronunciation is usual ...
and
kokyū
The is a traditional Japanese string instrument, the only one played with a bow. A variant of the instrument also exists in Okinawa, called in Okinawan.
The , like the , has its origins in Okinawa. Although it is similar to Chinese , it a ...
players who travelled around the country singing songs and begging alms.
Kobzars of Ukraine
There is a long tradition of performance by blind minstrels in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
known as ''
Kobzarstvo Kobzarstvo () in the wider definition, is the art and related culture of singing to the accompaniment of the Ukrainian folk instruments known as the bandura, kobza and the Ukrainian hurdy-gurdy whom as the lira.
More specifically, it deals with the ...
''. At least from 1800 to 1930 — and probably well before that as well — the majority of
itinerant
An itinerant is a person who travels habitually. Itinerant may refer to:
*"Travellers" or itinerant groups in Europe
*Itinerant preacher, also known as itinerant minister
*Travelling salespeople, see door-to-door, hawker, and peddler
*Travelling sh ...
musicians in Ukraine were blind. Music was an important part of the culture. Those who could not work at other occupations could be apprenticed to become professional bards, often referred to as ''
kobzar
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so by ...
s'' (both
bandura
A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...
and
lira
Lira is the name of several currency units. It is the current currency of Turkey and also the local name of the currencies of Lebanon and of Syria. It is also the name of several former currencies, including those of Italy, Malta and Israe ...
players could be referred to by this title). These wandering blind minstrels were divided into two groups—
bandurist
A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura.
Types of performers
There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...
s, or ''
kobzar
A ''kobzar'' ( ua, кобзар, pl. kobzari ua, кобзарі) was an itinerant Ukrainian bard who sang to his own accompaniment, played on a multistringed bandura or kobza.
Tradition
Kobzars were often blind and became predominantly so by ...
s'' who played
bandura
A bandura ( uk, банду́ра) is a Ukrainian plucked string folk instrument. It combines elements of the zither and lute and, up until the 1940s, was also often referred to by the term kobza. Early instruments (c. 1700) had 5 to 12 strings ...
, and ''
lirnyk ]
The lirnyk ( Ukrainian language, Ukrainian: лірник; plural лірники - lirnyky) were itinerant Ukrainian musicians who performed religious, historical and epic songs to the accompaniment of a lira, the Ukrainian version of the hurd ...
s'', who played the lira, which was a crank-driven
hurdy-gurdy
The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar to those of a vio ...
.
The ''kobzars'' were an important part of oral tradition in Ukraine. According to the ethnographer P. Zhytetsky, ''kobzars'' were thought to have been initially sighted
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
s, who were especially associated with
epic songs, or ''
dumas''. Kononenko states that ''lirnyks'', on the other hand, were blind church singers organized into guilds who sang religious songs and were often associated with
beggars
Begging (also panhandling) is the practice of imploring others to grant a favor, often a gift of money, with little or no expectation of reciprocation. A person doing such is called a beggar or panhandler. Beggars may operate in public plac ...
. By the middle of the 19th century, the two groups had merged; both sang many different types of songs, all were organized into the guilds, and all were blind.
![Вересай Остап з дружиною](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/%D0%92%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B0%D0%B9_%D0%9E%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BF_%D0%B7_%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%8E.jpg)
The ''kobzars'' have a central place in the national identity of Ukraine. Folklorist
Izmail Sreznevskyi argued that the initial
Cossack
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
bandurist
A banduryst ( uk, бандури́ст) is a person who plays the Ukrainian plucked string instrument known as the bandura.
Types of performers
There are a number of different types of bandurist who differ in their particular choice of instrumen ...
s were actual witnesses of the great battles about which they sang. The image of warrior-bards singing
epics
The Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) is a set of software tools and applications used to develop and implement distributed control systems to operate devices such as particle accelerators, telescopes and other large sci ...
was quite popular, and there became a tradition that the great ancient singers were veterans valorously blinded in combat. This in turn led to the belief that the kobzar tradition had greatly weakened in the 19th century, since the traditional songs were now sung by people who were more like beggars than like warriors. Kononenko points out that there is no factual basis for this image, and her research showed that the minstrel tradition was still very strong and creative up until the 1930s.
Because the art of the ''kobzars'' was language-specific and included themes dealing with historic subjects of Ukraine's past, the blind singers were often the focus of persecution by occupying powers, according to researcher
Mikhailo Khay. This persecution reached its height under
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secreta ...
in the 1930s, when many forms of Ukrainian cultural expression were crushed by the communist government of the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. In the late 1930s many bandurists were arrested and some shot. Documents have been discovered to show that the renowned bandurist
Hnat Khotkevych
Hnat Martynovych Khotkevych ( uk, Гнат Мартинович Хоткевич, also ''Gnat Khotkevich'' or ''Hnat Khotkevych'', born December 31, 1877 – died October 8, 1938) was a Ukrainian writer, ethnographer, playwright, composer, musico ...
was executed in 1938 and the blind ''kobzar''
Ivan Kucherenko was shot in 1937.
Numerous sources claim that there was an organized large scale massacre of Ukrainian blind musicians in the 1930s, though this has not been confirmed by official documents, and most details of the incident (including year, place, and method of execution) are disputed. Traditional blind minstrelsy by the late 1930s had largely vanished.
Today, the traditional repertoire of the ''kobzars'' is performed by sighted, educated performers. During her research in Ukraine, Kononenko found only one blind folk performer of the old songs, a man named
Pavlo Suprun, who had studied bandura playing and voice at the Kiev State Conservatory.
Traditional Irish musicians
During the medieval and early modern eras,
harpist
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orc ...
s,
pipers, and other musicians traveled around Ireland, providing music for dances and other occasions. As in Ukraine, many of the Irish musicians were blind. It was common practice for blind or disabled children to be taught a musical instrument as a means of supporting themselves, as they could not perform hard labour.
The most famous of these blind musicians, harper
Turlough O'Carolan
Turlough O'Carolan ( ga, Toirdhealbhach Ó Cearbhalláin ; 167025 March 1738) was a blind Celtic harper, composer and singer in Ireland whose great fame is due to his gift for melodic composition.
Although not a composer in the classical sense, ...
, composed many tunes that have become part of the traditional repertoire, including "Sidh Beag Sidh Mór" and "Carolan's Concerto".
Others included
Eoghain Ó Cianáin
Eoghain Ó Cianáin, alias Owen Keynan, is listed as of Cappervarget, County Kildare in a Patent Roll of 1540, which states he was a harper and a servant of Gerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare. Captain Francis O'Neill notes that he was also ...
(fl. 1540),
Nicholas Dáll Pierce (fl. 1601),
William fitz Robert Barry (fl. 1615),
Ruaidri Dáll Ó Catháin (died 1653),
Higgins of Tyrawley (fl. 18th century), and
Martin O'Reilly
Martin O'Reilly (1829–1904) was a blind Irish Uilleann pipes, piper.Francis O'Neill 1913. "Irish minstrels and musicians: with numerous dissertations on related subjectsThe Regan Printing House p. 239
Although associated with east County Ga ...
(1829–1904).
Blind organists in Europe
There is a long tradition of blind organists, including Louis Braille himself. In the 20th century some of the greatest organists were blind, including the great German Bach scholar and teacher
Helmut Walcha
Arthur Emil Helmut Walcha (27 October 1907 – 11 August 1991) was a German organist, harpsichordist, music teacher and composer who specialized in the works of the Dutch and German baroque masters.
Blind since his teenage years, he is known f ...
(1907–1991), and a number of prominent French organists and composers for the organ including
Louis Vierne
Louis Victor Jules Vierne (8 October 1870 – 2 June 1937) was a French organist and composer. As the organist of Notre-Dame de Paris from 1900 until his death, he focused on organ music, including six organ symphonies and a '' Messe solennelle ...
(1870–1937),
Andre Marchal (1894–1980),
Gaston Litaize
Gaston Gilbert Litaize (11 August 1909 - 5 August 1991) was a French organist and composer. Considered one of the 20th century masters of the French organ, he toured, recorded, worked at churches, and taught students in and around Paris. Blind ...
(1909–1991), and
Jean Langlais
Jean François-Hyacinthe Langlais III (15 February 1907 – 8 May 1991) was a French composer of modern classical music, organist, and improviser. He described himself as "" ("Breton, of Catholic faith").
Biography
Langlais was born in L ...
(1907–1991), as well as one of the current organists at
Notre Dame de Paris
Notre-Dame de Paris (; meaning "Our Lady of Paris"), referred to simply as Notre-Dame, is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité (an island in the Seine River), in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral, dedicated to the ...
,
Jean-Pierre Leguay
Jean-Pierre Leguay (born 4 July 1939 in Dijon) is a French organist, composer and improviser. He studied with André Marchal, Gaston Litaize, Rolande Falcinelli (organ), Simone Plé-Caussade (counterpoint), and Olivier Messiaen (composition), ...
(b. 1939). England has also produced brilliant blind organists in the 19th and 20th centuries, including
Alfred Hollins (1865–1942) and David A. Liddle (b. 1960), who was a student of Marchal and who currently enjoys an international performing career. Yet it is a tradition which goes back centuries: 14th-century Italian
Francesco Landini
Francesco Landini ( or 1335 – 2 September 1397; also known by many names) was an Italian composer, poet, organist, singer and instrument maker who was a central figure of the Trecento style in late Medieval music. One of the most revered c ...
(?–1397), Spanish baroque master
Antonio de Cabezon
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular mal ...
(1510–1566) and the Englishmen
John Stanley (1712–1786) are prominent examples, and one could argue that even
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...
and
George Frederic Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...
, who lost their sight late in life but presumably continued to play and compose, should be included in this discussion, along with the great American popular organist
George Wright George Wright may refer to:
Politics, law and government
* George Wright (MP) (died 1557), MP for Bedford and Wallingford
* George Wright (governor) (1779–1842), Canadian politician, lieutenant governor of Prince Edward Island
* George Wright ...
(1920–1998), who likewise lost his sight late in life but continued to present concerts and make sound recordings until his death. Blind composer
Frances McCollin (1892–1960) won the Clemson Prize from the
American Guild of Organists
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educati ...
in 1918. She studied organ with another blind musician,
David Duffield Wood (1838–1910), the organist at Philadelphia's St. Stephen's Episcopal Church for many years.
[Annette Maria DiMedio]
''Frances McCollin: Her Life and Music''
(Scarecrow Press 1990).
Blind piano tuners
In 19th century France and England, piano tuners were frequently blind. The first blind
piano tuner
Piano tuning is the act of adjusting the tension of the strings of an acoustic piano so that the musical intervals between strings are in tune. The meaning of the term 'in tune', in the context of piano tuning, is not simply a particular fixed ...
is thought to be
Claude Montal
Claude Montal (28 July 1800 – 7 March 1865) was a French author who wrote the first comprehensive text on piano tuning and repair, "''l'Art d'accorder soi-même son piano''..." (''The Art of Tuning Your Own Piano Yourself''...), published in 183 ...
, who taught himself how to tune a piano while studying at
L'Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles in 1830. At first Montal's teachers were skeptical, doubting that a blind man could actually perform the necessary mechanical tasks. Montal's skill was undeniable, however, and he was soon asked to teach classes in tuning to his fellow students. Eventually, he also overcame public
prejudice
Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that person's per ...
, and landed several prestigious jobs as a tuner for professors and professional musicians. Montal's success paved the way for other blind tuners, both in France and in England, where Montal's example and teaching methods were adopted by
Thomas Rhodes Armitage
Thomas Rhodes Armitage (2 April 1824 – 23 October 1890) was a British physician, and founder of the Royal National Institute of Blind People.
He was born at Tilgate in Sussex into a family of wealthy Yorkshire industrialists, the son of J ...
. Today the image of the blind piano tuner is so ingrained that people in England sometimes express surprise when they encounter a piano tuner who can see. An organization of blind piano tuners remains active in Britain.
American country blues
Blind musicians have made a significant contribution to American popular music. This is particularly true in
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
,
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...
, and other predominantly African American forms – perhaps because discrimination at the time made it more difficult for black blind people to find other employment. In any case, the achievement of blind African-Americans in music is extensive. The first recorded gospel
sanctified
Sanctified may refer to:
*Sanctification, the process of making holy
Music Albums
* ''Sanctified'' (album), by Morgana Lefay, 1995
*''Sanctified'', by Jack McDuff, 1961
*''Sanctified'', by the Rance Allen Group, 1975
Songs
*"Sanctified", by The ...
barrelhouse piano player,
Arizona Dranes
Juanita "Arizona" Dranes (May 4, 1889 or 1891 – July 27, 1963) was an American blind female gospel singer and pianist. Dranes was one of the first gospel artists to bring the musical styles of Holiness churches' religious music to the public ...
, was blind, as were
Al Hibbler
Albert George Hibbler (August 16, 1915 – April 24, 2001) was an American baritone vocalist, who sang with Duke Ellington's orchestra before having several pop hits as a solo artist. Some of Hibbler's singing is classified as rhythm and blue ...
, and
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...
, one of the most important figures in the creation of
soul music
Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...
.
Art Tatum
Arthur Tatum Jr. (, October 13, 1909 – November 5, 1956) was an American jazz pianist who is widely regarded as one of the greatest in his field. From early in his career, Tatum's technical ability was regarded by fellow musicians as extraord ...
, commonly cited as the greatest jazz pianist of all time, was also almost blind.
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
, who is blind from birth, has recorded more than thirty U.S. top ten hits and won twenty-two Grammy Awards (the most ever won by a solo artist in history).
However, blind black musicians are still most strongly associated with the
country blues
Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...
. The first successful male country blues performer,
Blind Lemon Jefferson
Lemon Henry "Blind Lemon" Jefferson (September 24, 1893 – December 19, 1929)Some sources indicate Jefferson was born on October 26, 1894. was an American blues and gospel singer-songwriter and musician. He was one of the most popular blues sing ...
, was blind, as were many other country bluesmen, including
Blind Willie McTell
Blind Willie McTell (born William Samuel McTier; May 5, 1898 – August 19, 1959) was a Piedmont blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He played with a fluid, syncopated fingerstyle guitar technique, common among many exponents of Piedmont bl ...
,
Blind Willie Johnson
Blind Willie Johnson (January 25, 1897 – September 18, 1945) was an American gospel blues singer, guitarist and evangelist. His landmark recordings completed between 1927 and 1930—thirty songs in total—display a combination of powerful "ch ...
,
Sonny Terry
Saunders Terrell (October 24, 1911 – March 11, 1986), known as Sonny Terry, was an American Piedmont blues and folk musician, who was known for his energetic blues harmonica style, which frequently included vocal whoops and hollers and oc ...
,
Blind Boy Fuller
Blind Boy Fuller (born Fulton Allen, July 10, 1904February 13, 1941) was an American blues guitarist and singer. Fuller was one of the most popular of the recorded Piedmont blues artists, rural African Americans, along with Blind Blake, Josh Wh ...
,
Blind Blake
Arthur Blake (1896 – December 1, 1934), known as Blind Blake, was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist. He is known for recordings he made for Paramount Records between 1926 and 1932.
Early life
Little is known of Blake's life. ...
and
Reverend Gary Davis
Reverend Gary Davis, also Blind Gary Davis (born Gary D. Davis, April 30, 1896 – May 5, 1972), was a blues and gospel singer who was also proficient on the banjo, guitar and harmonica. Born in Laurens, South Carolina and blind since infancy ...
. The figure of the blind country bluesman became so iconic that when
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang (born Salvatore Massaro, October 25, 1902 – March 26, 1933) was an American musician who is credited as the father of jazz guitar. During the 1920s, he gave the guitar a prominence it previously lacked as a solo instrument, as p ...
, a sighted jazz guitarist, wanted to choose a black pseudonym for purposes of recording blues records with
Lonnie Johnson, he naturally settled on
Blind Willie Dunn.
Bogus Ben Covington was known for pretending to be blind.
John William Boone
John William "Blind" Boone (May 17, 1864 – October 4, 1927) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime music.
Early life
Boone was born in a Federal militia camp near Miami, Missouri, May 17, 1864, to a contraband slave, Rachel, who used ...
, known as "Blind Boone", was an important American pianist and composer of ragtime.
Blind Individual Musicians in History
*
Shi Kuang
*
Francesco Landini
Francesco Landini ( or 1335 – 2 September 1397; also known by many names) was an Italian composer, poet, organist, singer and instrument maker who was a central figure of the Trecento style in late Medieval music. One of the most revered c ...
*
Antonio de Cabezón
Antonio de Cabezón (30 March 1510 – 26 March 1566) was a Spanish Renaissance composer and organist. Blind from childhood, he quickly rose to prominence as a performer and was eventually employed by the royal family. He was among the most impo ...
*
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo Vidre, 1st Marquess of the Gardens of Aranjuez (; 22 November 1901 – 6 July 1999), was a Spanish composer and a virtuoso pianist. He is best known for composing the ''Concierto de Aranjuez'', a cornerstone of the classical gui ...
*
Rudolf Braun
Rudolf Braun (21 October 186930 December 1925) was an Austrian pianist and composer who was born congenitally blind. He was born and died in Vienna.
Very little is recorded of Braun's early life. He was educated at the School for the Blind. He ...
*
Irène Fuerison
Modern Blind Musicians
Ronnie Milsap
Ronnie Lee Milsap (born Ronald Lee Millsaps; January 16, 1943) is an American country music singer and pianist. He was one of country music's most popular and influential performers of the 1970s and 1980s. Nearly completely blind from birth, ...
is a white Grammy Award-winning American singer, songwriter, and musician. He began his career as a heavy
R&B soul artist but is most known for his country and pop music career.
Jeff Healey
Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...
was a blind Juno Award-winning and Grammy Award-nominated Canadian blues-rock vocalist and guitarist who attained musical and personal popularity, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s. Legendary American guitarist and songwriter
Doc Watson
Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. W ...
was blinded before his first birthday from an eye infection, and went on to become a highly influential musician in American bluegrass and folk music, known for his proficient flatpicking and fingerpicking skills on guitar as well as his extensive knowledge of traditional American songs.
The Italian pop
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...
,
Andrea Bocelli
Andrea Bocelli (; born 22 September 1958) is an Italian tenor and multi-instrumentalist. He was born visually impaired, with congenital glaucoma, and at the age of 12, Bocelli became completely blind, following a brain hemorrhage resulting fro ...
, who was born with congenital
glaucoma
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that result in damage to the optic nerve (or retina) and cause vision loss. The most common type is open-angle (wide angle, chronic simple) glaucoma, in which the drainage angle for fluid within the eye rem ...
and completely lost his sight at the age of 12, after a
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
accident,
[
] is the biggest-selling singer in the history of classical music, with worldwide sales exceeding
70 million copies.
In 2009, Japanese
Nobuyuki Tsujii
(also known as Nobu Tsujii) is a Japanese pianist and composer. He was born blind due to microphthalmia. Tsujii performs extensively, with a large number of conductors and orchestras, and has received critical acclaims as well as notices for h ...
, at age 20, became the first blind pianist to win the top prize at a major international competition, the 13th
Van Cliburn International Piano Competition
The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition (The Cliburn) is an American piano competition by The Cliburn, first held in 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas and hosted by the Van Cliburn Foundation. Initially held at Texas Christian University, the co ...
. He was also awarded the Beverley Taylor Smith Award for the Best Performance of a New Work. He played all twelve of
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...
's
Op. 10 Études as part of his performance in the preliminaries. Born blind, Tsujii developed his own technique for learning complex classical piano works. With videos of his piano performances widely viewable on the Internet, Tsujii's competition win has made him an international sensation. As of 2010, Tsujii's discography includes ten CDs, some of which have sold over 100,000 copies. As a Van Cliburn winner, Tsujii has been performing in concerts all over the world.
One of the prominent blind South Indian
carnatic musicians is
M. Chandrasekaran
Mohanan Chandrasekaran is a Carnatic classical violinist from Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He was born in Calcutta, on 1937 December 11 as the younger of the two sons of T.N. Mohanan and Charubala Mohanan, a violinist herself. He was awarded th ...
, a violin maestro who has received some of the highest awards by many musical institutions in India. His musical career spans over six decades and he has travelled to perform in many music festivals all over India and the world.
''
Ravindra Jain
Ravindra Jain (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015) was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s by composing for several hit movies. His notable works include '' Chor Machaye Shor'' (19 ...
'' (28 February 1944 – 9 October 2015)
2] was an Indian music composer, lyricist and playback singer. He started his career in the early 1970s, composing for hit movies such as Chor Machaye Shor (1974), Geet Gaata Chal (1975), Chitchor (1976) and Ankhiyon Ke Jharokhon Se (1978). He composed music for many films and TV shows based on Hindu epics, including Ramanand Sagar's Ramayan (1987).
He was awarded the Padma Shri, the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India in 2015 for his contribution to arts.
Ravindra Jain was born blind on 28 February 1944.
Others
*
The Blind Boys of Alabama
The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a changing roster ...
*
George Shearing
Sir George Albert Shearing, (13 August 1919 14 February 2011) was a British jazz pianist who for many years led a popular jazz group that recorded for Discovery Records, MGM Records and Capitol Records. Shearing was the composer of over 300 t ...
*
Roland Kirk
Roland (; frk, *Hrōþiland; lat-med, Hruodlandus or ''Rotholandus''; it, Orlando or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Franks, Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known ...
*
Lachi
*
José Feliciano
José Montserrate Feliciano García (born September 10, 1945) () is a Puerto Rican musician, singer and composer. He recorded many international hits, including his rendition of the Doors' "Light My Fire" and his self-penned Christmas song " ...
*
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...
*
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
*
Princess Christina of the Netherlands
Princess Christina of the Netherlands (Maria Christina; 18 February 1947 – 16 August 2019) was the youngest of four daughters of Queen Juliana of the Netherlands and Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld.
Early life
Princess Christina, who wa ...
.
References
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