Table of Contents
Introduction : Evelyn Glennie Listens to sound Without Hearing It
There are two sections to the chapter. Both discuss facets of music as well as renowned musicians who excelled in their respective genres.
Part I: Evelyn Glennie, a well-known multi-percussionist, is the subject of this section. Evelyn experienced early deafness. She put a lot of effort into learning music, though, and rose to fame as a multi-percussionist. She has numerous honours. She serves as an example for those who are disabled. She received the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Soloist of the Year Award.
Summary : Evelyn Glennie Listens to sound Without Hearing It
A young girl of about 17 years old was anxious about the approaching train. She had just started classes at London’s renowned Royal Academy of Music. She was hard of hearing. She consequently had a greater challenge in life. Scottish native Evelyn Glennie was born. At a young age, Evelyn gradually lost her hearing. When Evelyn was eight years old, her mother, Isabel Glennie, first became aware of it. But for a long time, Evelyn kept her advancing deafness a secret from her friends and teachers. However, after turning eleven, she started to perform worse in school. Her headmistress suggested that her parents take her to the doctor. The specialist confirmed her deafness and suggested that she be fitted for hearing aids after citing gradual nerve damage as the cause. Additionally, he instructed them to transport her to the deaf school.
Evelyn was determined to live a normal life and pursue her interest in music, despite the fact that she was deaf. She made the decision to start learning the xylophone after seeing a girl play it one day. The majority of her teachers discouraged Evelyn, but percussionist Ron Forbes saw her potential. He helped Evelyn accomplish her objective. He instructed her to hear it with her senses rather than her ears. Evelyn claimed that she was able to feel the higher and lower drums differently all of a sudden. Evelyn realised all of a sudden that she could feel the lower drum from the waist down and the higher drum from the waist up. She later realised that she could feel the vibrations in various body parts. She had learned to become open to the vibrations and sounds with her body and mind.
Evelyn travelled to the UK with a young orchestra she joined. She made the decision to make music her life when she was sixteen. She received one of the best scores in the Royal Academy of Music’s history during her audition. She gradually stopped playing in the orchestra and began performing solo. She had won the majority of the top prizes by the end of her three-year course. With her mastery of more than a thousand instruments, she rose to become the most well-known multi-percussionist in the world. She is fluent in Scottish and has also studied French and Japanese. She received the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society Soloist of the Year Award in 1991.
Evelyn claimed that music permeates every cell in her body. Her skin, cheekbones, and even hair are tingling. She can feel the sound travelling up the stick and into her fingertips as she plays the xylophone. She can feel the resonances (sounds) flowing into her body as she leans against the drums. She takes off her shoes and stands on a wooden platform, allowing the vibrations to travel up her legs through her bare feet. Evelyn acknowledged that she puts in more hours than other classical musicians because she is a workaholic.
In addition to her regular performances, she teaches young musicians and performs free concerts in hospitals and prisons. She makes her audiences happy, and she has made millions of people very happy. She has elevated percussion to the orchestra’s front ranks. The disabled have found inspiration in her.
Introduction: The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan
The second part is about the great shehnai player Ustad Bismillah Khan, who is known as a legend. The chapter is about how the “Shehnai” musical instrument came to be. During the Mughal era, a barber’s family was the first to play it. They used a pipe with holes and made a very fine, sweet sound by closing and opening it.
The famous musician Bismillah Khan made this instrument known all over the world. He was a musician and came from a famous family of musicians. He also made new ragas and tunes. When he was young, he would practise every day at the Balaji and Mangala Maiya temples. He loved and became attached to the way the Ganga river flowed.
In 1938, he got his big break when he was invited to Lucknow for the opening of the All India Radio. After that, when India got its independence on August 15, 1947, Ustad Khan was the first Indian person to be asked to play the shehnai as the nation’s greeting echo. Over the years, he won many awards and received praise for his great performances, both in his own country and around the world. He also won the Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan, and Padam Shri, which are the highest and most prestigious awards. In addition, he was given the Bharat Ratna, which is the highest civilian honour.
Ustad Bismillah Khan spoke for our country all over the world. He was the one who played at the well-known Lincoln Centre Hall in the United States. He also went to the Cannes Art Festival, the Montreal World’s Fair, and the Osaka Trade Fair.
After his great show in Tehran, the city’s Opera House was renamed Tahar Mosiquee Ustaad Bismillah Khan. This is because he was so well-liked there. Even though he had a lot of opportunities on the world stage, the Maestro could not break his ties with India and the Ganga, especially with Benares and his home town of Dumraon.
The legendary Shehnai player died on August 21, 2006, after a long battle with illness. He left behind a legacy of beautiful and soulful music.
Conclusion
The lesson is about two masters who were the best at what they did. One has a disability, but she uses vibrations to feel the music, and the other is an Indian legend who came from a royal musician family but was simple at heart and helped create Hindustani classical music. The people who read this lesson will get an idea of how music doesn’t need to be in a certain language because it crosses borders and gets to the hearts of millions of people.
