Thomas Wiggins - Water in the Moonlight (1866)
Details
| Title | Thomas Wiggins - Water in the Moonlight (1866) |
| Author | Meliton Soupelin’s Score Video Depository |
| Duration | 3:06 |
| File Format | MP3 / MP4 |
| Original URL | https://youtube.com/watch?v=t4ZmwXd_dJg |
Description
Thomas Wiggins, popularly known as “Blind Tom”, is remembered in history as a genius savant who could memorize and recreate sounds on the piano upon first hearing. His composition, “Water in the Moonlight”, paints a serene picture of a lake during the night, gently rippling while the water glistens under a bright moon.
Wiggins was born in the American state of Georgia as a slave and the property of plantation owner Wiley Jones. Due to the blindness impacting Wiggins’ ability for manual labor, Jones initially intended to murder the newborn. Desperate, Tom’s mother, Charity Wiggins, asked Jones’ daughter to name the infant, thereby saving Tom’s life. Within the year of his birth, Wiggins’ entire family was sold to the Bethunes. The Bethune patriarch, General James Neil Bethune, added his own surname to Thomas’ name.
At an early age, Wiggins showed a particularly strong affinity for the world of sound and gained access to the Bethune family piano once the Bethunes recognized his talent. Unsurprisingly, the family of plantation owners proceeded to exploit Wiggins’ gift. The Bethunes earned hundreds of thousands of dollars (worth millions in the 21st century) from Wiggins’ performances. During the Civil War, the revenue generated by Wiggins’ talents went to support the Confederate war effort. Even when the war concluded with a Union side victory, Tom Wiggins remained a ward of the Bethunes, and continued to perform under the name "Tom Bethune".
In his late life, Wiggins was the subject of multiple custody battles. His new owner became Eliza Stutzbach, the ex-wife of General Bethune’s son John. Stutzbach was aided by Charity in her efforts to keep Tom, with the expectation that Stutzbach would divert some of the revenue for the old woman’s well-being. Eliza Stutzbach would soon default on her financial obligations to Tom’s mother, and the old woman returned to Georgia empty-handed and bitterly disappointed.
Wiggins suffered a stroke and passed away in 1908, a freedman in name.
Date: 1866
Performer: John Davis on piano
Note: This channel does not own the score or audio, and they are only used for non-commercial purposes.
