BLIND TOM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6147, 30 July 1881, Page 7

BLIND TOM.

The musical world has.been .much amused at the report from America which tells of the determination of a poor boy named: Blind Tom to follow Rubinstein to Europe in order to exhibit his woudroua powers as the correct imitator of the magnificent execution of the King of Pianists. If imitation be, as philosophers declare, the most effective mode of flattery, surely the great ~ musician ought to be satisfied. Blind Tom is the negro boy who possesses the organ of harmony so fully developed that, after listening to the performance of a piece of music—no matter how difficult—he can. repeat it over without missing a note, exactly in.the same'style, exactly with the same method of phrasing. The manner in which this singular faculty was first discovered is of great interest. The gentleman in whose house Blind Tom's father had lived as butler had given a great musical party, and the boy's fondness for music had induced him to stand behind the door, to listen, When the company had dispersed and the household had retired to bed, great alarm was occasioned by the sound of the piano issuing from the conccrt-ioom, and the perfect execution of the piece first played by .the great pianist who had been charming the guests with his splendid talent. The room was in darkness, which rendered the adventure even more mysterious, but when lights were brought Blind Tom, to whom night was as the day, was discovered seated in rapture before the instrument, and willing to play piece after piece in the same order in which the great musician of the evening had played them.. Since then Blind Tom has been occupied in journeying through the States as "the greatest phenomenon of the age," and has made a goodly fortune.