The story of Braille music and its impact on blind musicians over the last 200 years.
2025 marks 200 years since Louis Braille invented his revolutionary 6-dot tactile writing system for blind people. Braille was also an organist, and he went on to adapt his system into Braille Music, allowing blind musicians to access and study scores like never before.
Award-winning lutenist Matthew Wadsworth travels to France to learn about the origins of Braille Music and explores the impact it’s had on blind musicians over the last 200 years.
Matthew visits the Musée Louis Braille (Braille’s childhood home) in Coupvray, France to learn about Louis Braille’s early life. He also travels to the Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (The National Institute for Blind Youth) in Paris – the institute for blind students where Louis Braille was a student and teacher. The school still teaches blind students today and organ teacher Alexandra Bartfeld tells Matthew how the institute trained famed blind organists like Jean Langlais, Louis Vierne and Gaston Litaize.
Philippa Campsie, independent researcher into the history of blindness, explains how Charles Barbier’s Night Writing code using raised dots inspired Louis Braille. And Mireille Duhen, from the Valentin Haüy museum, shows Matthew period tactile music scores from the turn of the 19th century.
Internationally acclaimed concert pianist Ignasi Cambra explains at the piano how he uses Braille Music to memorise a score.
Viola player Takashi Kikuchi is a member of Paraorchestra. He recently learned the music for the Virtuous Circle – an orchestral performance of Mozart’s 40th Symphony with additional music by Oliver Vibrans. He discusses the challenges of memorising contemporary music and how he worked with fellow viola player and Assistant Music Director of Paraorchestra, Siobhan Clough, to access the score.
Recorder player and composer James Risdon talks to Matthew about the ways digital Braille Music scores have benefited his career. And Dr Sarah Morley Wilkins from the Daisy Consortium Braille Music project and Jay Pocknell (Project Manager at Sound Without Sight and Music officer at the Royal National Institute for Blind People) discuss their work with music publishers to improve access to Braille Music scores in the digital age.