Composer Feature: Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins

Thomas Greene Wiggins was born in 1849 in Columbus, Georgia. He grew up with his parents, Charity and Mingo Wiggins, on the plantation of Colonel James Bethune. Blind and autistic, Thomas learned and understood a lot just by listening. It could be bird calls; the wind in the trees; the sounds of men and women on the move or at work; Thomas made sense of his world through sound and dynamic touch.

When he was four or five, he sat down at the piano in his owner’s house. He studied piano off and on with one of Bethune’s daughters (herself a student of George W. Chase) and Mrs. Bethune, until she died suddenly in 1858.

Thomas’ first public performance was either in 1857 or 1858; he began to tour under a three-year contract between Bethune and another plantation owner, bringing in the equivalent of $3 million in today’s money. He was given the nickname “Blind Tom” by the press. When the Civil War started in 1861, Thomas only played in the South, raising money for the Confederacy on behalf of Bethune. In 1866, Thomas did a European tour, returning there several years later. He also performed to wide acclaim in the 1870s and 1880s, sharing the stage with emerging acts like John William Boone and Sissieretta Jones.

In 1863, Bethune “encouraged” Thomas’ parents to sign a five-year indentured servant agreement that also made him Thomas’ legal guardian. His mother, Charity, wouldn’t stop petitioning for her son, even after the court ruled in favor of Bethune’s guardianship in July 1865. Thomas should have been free and allowed to decide where he wanted to live; the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in Confederate states, had gone into effect in 1863, and the Civil War ended in 1865. But the ruling was tied to the judge’s agreement with Bethune’s assertion that Thomas was an “idiot” and thus couldn’t make informed decisions. Bethune was mainly interested in continuing to profit from Thomas’ talent. Thomas continued to live with the Bethune family, though he chose to stop performing a little before his death in 1908.

Some listeners assumed Thomas’ musical skills were a trick. “Playoffs” became a feature of his recitals, where he either played in response to other musicians (kinda like a rap battle!) or was asked to replicate or imitate something in real time, which he would do flawlessly. Thomas would perform Bach preludes and fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. 2 and popular songs like “Yankee Doodle Dandy.” He attended concerts to learn more repertoire and he composed, creating his first work, The Rainstorm, when he was about five. Many of his surviving works are programmatic or impressionistic.

Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Paxton and Rachel Baker

One of his most popular is The Battle of Manassas (c. 1863), a musical picture of the Civil War battle won by the Confederacy. It’s unclear who notated the published version we have from Thomas’ time; but the rhapsodic and expressive elements and tone clusters speak to Thomas’ interest in timbral color and the physicality of sound.

Listen to the opening ostinato, imitating military drums; by putting this part in the lower range, it’s easier to feel than to hear, and serves as a contrast to the heroic themes, which are all official or unofficial national anthems: “Dixie,” “Marseillaise,” and “The Star-Spangled Banner.” When Thomas would perform this piece, like many other works on his program, he would verbally provide the “chu chu” and whistle of a train engine. Such structures and techniques call to mind musical medleys or works like Ysaÿe’s Sonata No. 2, which quotes Bach and the Dies Irae.

Thomas’s skill and technique is still being discovered and appreciated by new audiences. Play some of his music and see what you discover!