Thursday, March 30, 2006

March 30: Anna Sewell (1820-1878) and Antonio de Cabezon (1510-1566)

Two disability history birthdays on this date: Anna Sewell (1820-1878) was the author of perennial bestseller Black Beauty (1877), and a classic nineteenth- century English "invalid"--she combined an indisputable mobility impairment (following a bad fall at age 14) with various other less-defined health conditions, and lived at home with her mother for her whole life, writing and painting in her "enforced idleness." She wrote Black Beauty to "induce kindness, sympathy, and an understanding treatment of horses." And it seems to have worked: animal cruelty laws were inspired by Black Beauty or supported by its readers; the novel's first publication in the US was arranged by the American Humane Society in Boston. Sewell's one and only publication has never gone out of print.

The other birthday is that of Spanish baroque composer Antonio de Cabezón, born this day in 1510. Cabezón was blind from infancy. His uncle was an official in the diocese at Palencia, and arranged for young Antonio's musical education at the cathedral in that city. In 1526 he became Queen Isabella's own organist; he remained in royal employ after her death, and in 1548 became King Philip II's organist by exclusive arrangement. He traveled with the King for eight years, all over Europe, and played at Philip's wedding to Queen Mary of England. He produced secular and liturgical compositions for organ and clavichord, as well as a manual on teaching keyboard techniques. His son Hernando was also an organist and composer. Antonio de Cabezón's compositions are widely available on CD.

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