summary of sound of music part 1 & 2
Answers
Evelyn Glennie was 8, when first time her hearing disability was noticed by her mother.At the age of 11, her disability was discovered at school.Wants to do career in Music, her teachers discouraged her.Fortunately she met Ron Forbes, the percussionist, who identified her potential & supported in achieving her goal.He trained Evelyn to sense the music through different parts of our body.Suddenly she was excited to feel the vibrations in every part of her body.Evelyn followed him like an obedient student and in the meantime she had learnt to open her body & mind to sounds and vibrations.After this, she never looked back.Evelyn joined the famous Royal Academy of Music, worked hard with strong determination. Suddenly she got to top.In 1991, she bagged the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious “Soloist of the Year Award” She toured round the world for her concerts with a very hectic schedule and became a kind of workaholic.Apart from this, she gives free concerts in prison & hospitals.Evelyn soon became shining super star & inspiration for not only the disabled ones but for all.She achieved more than most people twice her age.
Evelyn has earned great name in Orchestra.She has inspired those who are handicapped & made them believe that if Evelyn could do that, why not they.
Answer:
Part 1
“Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It” throws light on the life of famous Scottish multi-percussionist, Evelyn Glennie and the struggles she faced to become a successful musician. She is a talented performer who knows how to play several instruments perfectly. It is interesting to note that although she is completely deaf, she has an extraordinary ability to sense music through her body rather than her ears. Evelyn was not born deaf, but she lost her hearing ability by the time she was eleven years old. Whilst she faced difficulty in hearing, that did not bog down her determination to pursue music.
Evelyn was more keen to learn the xylophone at school when percussionist Ron Forbes recognised her potential. He encouraged her to sense the music through her body, instead of her ears. After that, there was no looking back! Evelyn continued to scale newer heights ever since and when she auditioned at the Royal Academy of Music, she scored one of the highest marks in the history of the music academy. She received several laurels, accolades and awards for her extraordinaire par excellence performances on the global platform. In 1991, the Royal Philharmonic Society honoured her with the prestigious ‘Soloist of the Year Award’. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for Deaf Children stated that Evelyn is a beaming inspiration to the specially-abled people. Thus, Evelyn Glennie continues to set an example by motivating everyone around her with her determination and delights millions of people with her outstanding performances.
Part 2
In Part 2 of The Sound of Music chapter, we learn about Ustad Bismillah Khan, the shehnai legend and how the musical instrument ‘Shehnai’ came into being. The ‘Shehnai’ was first played in the Mughal Emperor’s chamber by a barber of a family of professional musicians. He chose a pipe with holes in it and played it by closing and opening some of these holes, thereby creating melodious sounds from the instrument. Legendary Indian shehnai player, Ustad Bismillah Khan was the maestro who popularized this musical instrument and gave it a global platform. He belonged to a renowned family of musicians and created new tunes and raagas, which had not been explored before. From a young age, he was deeply inspired by the flowing waters of the river Ganga and would play on its banks at the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya. Bismillah Khan had a secular upbringing as he loved Benares and would naturally play the shehnai every morning at the Kashi Vishwanath temple on the banks of the holy river Ganga.
In 1938, Bismillah Khan got his big break with the inauguration of the All India Radio in Lucknow. Later, when India became independent of the British Rule on 15th August 1947, Ustad Bismillah Khan was the first Indian invited to play the shehnai as he greeted the nation with his stirring performance. Over the years, he achieved infinite success and garnered immense praise from music lovers, both nationally and internationally for his soulful renditions. He was bestowed with several accolades and awards in India such as the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri. He was also the recipient of the highest civilian honour in India i.e. The Bharat Ratna.
Ustad Bismillah Khan represented India on the global stage too. He was the first Indian who was invited to perform at the distinguished Lincoln Centre Hall in the USA. He also participated in the Cannes Art Festival, the World Exposition in Montreal and the Osaka Trade Fair. He was so popular that an opera house in Teheran was named after him i.e. Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan. Despite having numerous opportunities far and wide, the music maestro was very fond of India particularly, Benaras and his native town, Dumraon. On 21st August 2006, Ustad Bismillah Khan breathed his last after a prolonged illness and left a legacy of soulful music behind him.