Sound of Music - Part One

Sound of Music I

Evelyn Glennie

By Deborah cowley

Analysis :

·       A brief biographical sketch of Evelyn Glennie in ‘The Sound of Music Part One’ is beautifully drawn by Deborah Cowley who writes ‘Evelyn Glennie listens to music without hearing it’.

·       The story of Evelyn’s unshakeable determination, unfathomable dedication and perseverance is a great inspiration to the young learners and aspirants.

·       The story highlights that if we have an undying passion to achieve something, even the destiny makes way for it.

·       Evelyn’s story is an inspiration for the young music aspirants and the differently abled who are motivated to fulfil their dreams like she did. 

Summary /  Synopsis

§  Evelyn Glennie lived in Scotland. Sitting at railway platform she could feel the vibrations of approaching train. She was going to London as she had got admission in Royal Academy of Music, London. But her journey since her childhood upto London had been tough.

§  When Evelyn was eight years old, her mother noticed that she didn’t respond to her name being called. Her loss of hearing was gradual and when she was eleven years old, it was confirmed by the doctor that she had lost her hearing power completely. The specialists advised that she should wear hearing aids and go to the school for the deaf. But, Evelyn was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her passion for music.

§  Although she was discouraged by her teachers, her potential was noticed by the master percussionist, Ron Forbes who encouraged Evelyn to feel music through her body parts especially lower body instead of hearing it through her ears. Now, things were easy for Evelyn. She realized that she could feel various sounds through different parts of her body.

§  Evelyn pursued her passion to become a big musician. She learnt to feel music through her body parts. She got admission in the Royal Academy of Music, London and scored the highest marks in the history of the academy.

§  Evelyn evolved into a multi – percussionist and attained mastery over almost a thousand musical instruments, some of them being orchestra, drums, xylophone, piano, etc. In the year 1991, she won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Soloist of the Year’ Award.

§  In an interview, Evelyn tells that hard work and dedication towards her goal have helped achieve her goals. Evelyn gives solo performances as well as free concerts for hospitals and schools motivating the young music aspirants.

§  Evelyn’s story is an inspiration for the differently abled and the young learners who aspire to pursue music or fulfil their dreams the way she has done.

Important Question answers

Q1. How does Evelyn hear music?

Ans. Evelyn Glennie was passionate about music but unfortunately, she lost her sense of hearing by the age of eleven. Master percussionist, Ron Forbes spotted Evelyn’s talent and taught her to feel music through her other body parts specially her lower body instead of hearing it through her ears. He trained her by tuning two large drums to different notes. Now, Evelyn could sense various sounds and vibrations through different parts of her body. She could feel the higher notes produced by one of the drums through the upper part of her body, above the waist and the lower notes of the other drum through the lower part of her body, below the waist. Evelyn removed her footwear while she performed on a wooden floor so that she can feel the vibrations produced by different instruments pass through her bare feet. This way, Evelyn learnt to hear the sounds of various musical instruments.

Q2. Name the various places and causes for which Evelyn performs.

Ans. Evelyn went to Royal Academy of Music, London to study music. She made her first tour to United Kingdom with a youth orchestra, at the age of sixteen. Evelyn is a popular musician with a busy international schedule touring in most parts of the world. Apart from the regular concerts in hospitals and schools, she also does charity and does free concerts in hospitals and prisons.

Q3. When was her deafness first noticed? When was it confirmed?

Ans. When Evelyn was eight years old, her mother noticed her deafness as she didn’t respond to her name being called and when she was eleven years old, it was confirmed by the specialist that she had lost her hearing power completely.

Q4. Who helped her to continue with music? What did he do and say?

Ans. Evelyn’s potential was noticed by the master percussionist, Ron Forbes who encouraged her to pursue music. He asked her to feel music through her body parts especially lower body instead of hearing it through her ears. He trained her by tuning two large drums to different notes. This way, Evelyn could sense various sounds and vibrations through different parts of her body.

Q5. Write a brief bio sketch of Evelyn in 100 -120 words.

Ans. Evelyn Glennie lived in Scotland. When she was eight years old, her mother noticed her deafness. She was discouraged by all but her potential was noticed by the master percussionist, Ron Forbes who encouraged Evelyn to feel music through her body parts.

Evelyn pursued her passion to become a big musician. She got admission in the Royal Academy of Music, London and scored the highest marks in the history of the academy. Evelyn evolved into a multi – percussionist and attained mastery over almost a thousand musical instruments. In 1991, she won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious ‘Soloist of the Year’ Award.

Evelyn gives free concerts for hospitals, prisons and schools. Her story is an inspiration for the differently abled and the young learners.