SOUND OF MUSIC
Themes:
- Strong determination and sincere hard work with honesty leads to success.
- A problem is only as big as we make it. No problem is so great that it cannot be overcome.
Message:
- Aim for your goal and try to reach your goal with full determination and concentration.
- There is always a teacher to bring out the latent potential of a pupil.
PART -I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It
Summary:
Evelyn Glennie is a multi-percussionist. She can play about 1000 instruments with perfection. She listens to sound without hearing it. Evelyn fought against a physical disability and became a source of inspiration for thousands of disabled persons. She was profoundly
deaf. She was 11 years old when it was discovered that she had the hearing disability. She wanted to pursue her career in music but her teachers discouraged her. It was Ron Forbes who recognized her potential and supported her in achieving her goal. He advised her not to listen through her ears but try to sense and feel it in some other way. Soon she was excited. She felt the vibrations of higher drum from the waist above & the lower drum from the waist down. Later she realized that she could feel the vibrations in every part of her body. These tingle in her skin, her cheekbones and even in hair. She had learnt to open her body and mind to the sounds and vibrations. After that, she never looked back.
Evelyn joined the prestigious Royal Academy of Music & scored one of the highest marks in the history of the academy. She worked hard with strong determination. She got right to the top. In 1991, she was presented with the royal philharmonic society’s prestigious soloist of the year award. Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She is a shining inspiration for deaf children. She has accomplished more than most people twice her age. She has earned name in orchestra. She has inspired those who are handicapped, made them believe that if Evelyn could do that, why not they.
A) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
1. ‘Her mother remembers noticing something was wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting to play the piano. "They called her name and she didn't move. I suddenly realized she hadn't heard," says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn managed to conceal her growing deafness from friends and teachers.’
(a) What made Isabel suspect Evelyn's hearing ability?
(b) Why did Evelyn's headmistress advise her parents to consult a specialist?
(c) Find the word/phrase in the passage which means the same as ‘to hide’.
2. As for music, she explains "it pours in through every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my cheekbones and even in my hair". When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her finger tips. By leaning against the drums,
she can feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removes her shoes so that the vibrations pass through her bare feet and up her legs.
(a) How does Evelyn hear the sound of xylophone?
(b) Why does she remove her shoes on a wooden platform during her performance?
(c) Find a word from the passage that means ‘take off’
B) Answer the questions briefly:
1. Why was Evelyn nervous while on the way to Royal Academy of Music?
2. How did Evelyn’s parents come to know about her deafness?
3. Why did Evelyn say that men with bushy beards gave her trouble?
C) Answer in about 100 to 150 words:
1. How does Evelyn hear music?
PART -II
The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan
SUMMARY
This lesson is an effort to understand Indian classical musicians and instruments especially the origin of Shehnai and Shehnai maestro Ustad Bismillah Khan. Shehnai replaced pungi which had an unpleasant sound. Pungi’s tonal quality was improved by a nai (barbar) of Shah (emperor Aurnangeb); hence it was named as Shehnai. The lesson beautifully deals with the early life of Bismillah khan in Dumraon in Bihar. His grandfather was a Shehnai-nawaz of the Bhojpur king’s court. Bismillah khan took to music early in life when he was 3 years old in the company of his maternal uncle. His life is a source of simplicity and communal harmony from the very beginning when he used to sing ‘Chiata’ in Bihariji temple and practicing Shehnai in Vishnu temple and Mangala Maiya temple of Varanasi.
Bismillah khan got his big break with the opening of All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He also played shehnai on 15 August, 1947 from Red Fort in the presence of Pandit Nehru. Bismillah khan gave many memorable performances both in India and abroad where he was honoured with so many awards. He also gave music in two movies ‘Gunj Uthi shehnai’ and ‘Sanadhi Apanna’. He was so fond of his motherland India, Benaras and the holy Ganga that he refused an offer to be the Head of Shehnai School in USA. In 2001, Ustad Bismillah khan was awarded India’s highest civilian avard, the Bharat Ratna.
In the end, his life is a perfect example of the rich, cultural heritage of India, one that effortlessly accepts that a devout Muslim like him can very naturally play the shehnai at the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
A) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow.
1. ‘He played the instrument before royalty and everyone was impressed’.
(a) What is ‘the instrument’ referred to in the above line? Why was it called so?
(b) When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?
(c) What do people call Bismillah Khan fondly?
B) Answer the questions briefly:
1. How was pungi came to be named ‘Shehnai’?
2. How did Bismillah Khan take to music?
C) Answer in about 100 to 150 words:
1. Give an account of the awards, accolades and recognition that Bismillah Khan earned as
a talented musician.
