The Sound of Music Summary In English
I
Evelyn Glennie listens to
sound without hearing it
Little girl Evelyn at Royal Academy of Music
Rush hour crowds pushed for place on the underground train platform. A little girl of about seventeen was nervous for the coming train. It was her first day at the famous Royal Academy of Music in London. She was deaf. So she was facing a bigger challenge in life. Evelyn’s deafness detected Evelyn Glennie who was from Scotland. She lost her hearing gradually. Her mother saw it when Evelyn was eight years old. Evelyn hid this growing weakness from her friends and teachers. By eleven, her marks lessened. The headmistress told her mother to take her to a specialist. It was known that her hearing loss was due to gradual nerve damage. She was advised to wear a hearing aid.
How Evelyn ‘hears’
But Evelyn was determined to lead a normal life. She wanted to pursue her interest in music. One day she saw a girl playing xylophone. She too decided to play it. Ron Forbes recognised Evelyn’s talent in it. He told her to listen to it not through ears but sense it some other way. Evelyn said that suddenly she could feel the higher and lower drums differently. She could also sense certain notes in different parts of her body. She could open her mind and body to different sounds.
Evelyn’s height of success
She never looked back. She toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra. She had decided to make music her life. She auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London by playing the xylophone. There she scored the highest in its history. She moved from orchestral work to solo performances. After her three-year course she had got most of the top awards.
Evelyn world’s most wanted multi percussionist
She is not proud of her achievements. She says that if one knows one’s goal, one can get it. She is now at the top. She is the world’s most wanted multi percussionist. She has mastery over 1,000 instruments.
Evelyn’s other interest
Without hearing she functions with ease. She speaks fluently with a Scottish lilt. She learnt French and mastered basic Japanese.
Evelyn’s ‘hearing’ the music
She says that music pours in through every part of her body. At times, she plays the xylophone. She can sense the sound passing in her fingertips. She feels the sound of the drums when she leans on them. She removes her shoes on a wooden platform. She does so to feel the vibrations in her body.
How God blessed Evelyn
In 1991, she was awarded the Soloist of the Year Award. It is the most famous award of the Royal Philharmonic Society. Master percussionist James Blades says that God may have taken her hearing. But He has given her something extraordinary.
Evelyn as inspiration for the handicapped
Evelyn says that she is a workaholic. She has to work more harder than classical musicians. She gives regular concerts. She also gives free concepts in schools and hospitals. She gives priority to young musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children says that Evelyn is a shining inspiration for deaf children.
Evelyn a source of pleasure also
Evelyn has brought percussion to the front of the orchestra. She is an inspiration to the handicapped. She has given great pleasure to millions.
II
The shehnai of bismillah khan
History of ‘shehnai’
Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of pungi in the palace. The reason was that it had a sharp and unpleasant sound. A barber thought of improving it. He chose a pipe with a natural hollow stem. He made seven holes on its body. He played on it closing and opening some of these holes. It produced a sweet sound. He played it before the royalty. It needed a name. So it was named after the player. He was a ‘nai’ (barber). It was first played in the Shah’s chambers.
‘Shehnai’ and Bismillah Khan
The sound of the shehnai was considered auspicious. So it is played in temples and at weddings in north India. Earlier it was part of the traditional music groups.
Ustad Bismillah Page No 20:
Question 1:
Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.
1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?
2. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?
ANSWER:
1. Evelyn was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.
2. Her deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old and it was confirmed when she was eleven.
Page No 20:
Question 2:
Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30 – 40 words).
1. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?
2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.
ANSWER:
1. Percussionist Ron Forbes helped Evelyn to continue with music.
He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He asked her not to listen to them through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner.
2. Evelyn, with a hectic international schedule, gives solo performances at regular concerts. Apart from these, she gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She also accords high priority to classes for young musicians.
Page No 20:
Question 3:
Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100 – 150 words).
1. How does Evelyn hear music?
ANSWER:
Evelyn does not hear music, she feels it. She senses the notes through different parts of her body. Initially, she was encouraged by percussionist Ron Forbes, who tuned two drums to different notes and asked her to sense the sound without using her ears. She realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down. This exercise helped Evelyn to open up her mind and body to sounds and vibrations.
Evelyn explains that when she plays the xylophone, she senses the sound flowing up the stick and into her fingertips. She leans against the drums, stands barefoot on a wooden platform so that she can feel the vibrations. She says how her whole body including her hair is sensitive to her music and its resonances.
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