Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles
Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (INJA) or Institut Royal des Jeunes Aveugles is the national institute for young blind people in Paris . It is the world's first school for the blind with a music conservatory and served as a model and role model for numerous subsequent educational institutes.
Emergence
The school was founded by Valentin Haüy and began its educational work in 1784, initially as a royal institute under the first name of Institut Royal des Jeunes Aveugles. Valentin Haüy was so impressed by the blind concert pianist Maria Theresia Paradis that he began to campaign for the education of the blind. On her concert tour in Paris in 1784, Marie Theresia Paradis played the piano concerto KV 456 , which Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had composed for her. Leopold Mozart said in a letter that he “made it to Paris for Paradis”.
It was not until the end of the 18th century that a social interest in the education and training of blind people arose. Until then, they were often not considered to be schoolable and dropped out of the educational systems. It was recognized that the visual impairment is accompanied by a sharpening and higher development of other sensory perceptions. Blind people should achieve more participation in society or were recognized as being particularly predestined for certain (professional) activities. A key figure in the change in education for the blind was Sébastien Guillié . He founded the first ophthalmic clinic in France and became the institute's first headmaster in Paris.
Louis Braille , the inventor of the braille based on the sense of touch , attended the school from 1819 and later taught there himself.
Musical education
A comprehensive and systematic musical education began to promote the particular affinity for music that blind people can develop. The good development of the sense of hearing, touch and memory provides advantages in some areas. In the most diverse artistic instrumental areas was taught, but also z. B. trained as a piano tuner.
Training of organists
The first organ class for the training of organists was established in 1826. As early as 1833, 14 graduates had jobs as church organists. The line of education expanded. The self-blind organ teacher Louis Lebel (1831–1888) and his subsequent generation with Adolphe Marty (organ and composition) and Albert Mahaut (theory of harmony) laid the pedagogical basis for a remarkable series of prominent French organ virtuosos. Marty taught from 1888 to 1930; During this time, Louis Vierne , Augustin Barié , Paul Allix , André Marchal , Jean Langlais and Gaston Litaize emerged as graduates from the Institut National.
literature
- Denis Havard de la Montagne: L'Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles et la musique. Article in Musica et Memoria.
- Jean Langlais: The Man and His Music. Ann Labounsky, 2000, pp. 30-47.
Web links
- L'Institut National des Jeunes Aveugles (French)
- History of INJA (French)
Footnotes
- ^ Expression of Leopold Mozart in a letter of February 16, 1785 to his daughter Maria Anna . Compare Marion Fürst: Maria Theresia Paradis - Mozart's famous contemporary. Böhlau, Cologne 2005, ISBN 3-412-19505-7 , p. 114.See : Digitalisat