📖 Chapter 2: The Sound of Music

Answer: Evelyn was seventeen years old when she went to the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Answer: Her deafness was first noticed when she was eight years old and was waiting to play the piano. It was confirmed by the time she was eleven years old when her marks deteriorated and her headmistress urged her parents to take her to a specialist.

Answer: Percussionist Ron Forbes helped Evelyn to continue with music. He spotted her potential and began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He said, "Don't listen through your ears, try to sense it some other way." This helped Evelyn discover she could feel sounds in different parts of her body.

Answer: Evelyn performs at regular concerts, prestigious venues like the Royal Academy of Music, and in prisons and hospitals. She also gives high priority to classes for young musicians. She gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals to bring joy and inspiration to others.

Answer: Evelyn Glennie hears music not through her ears but through her entire body. She has learnt to sense sounds and vibrations in different parts of her body. When she plays the xylophone, she can sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. 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. She says that music "pours in through every part of my body" and tingles in her skin, her cheekbones, and even in her hair. Her body has become a sensitive instrument that captures every note and rhythm.

Her extraordinary ability to feel music deeply is what makes her performances so moving and beautiful. As James Blades, master percussionist, said, "What we hear, she feels — far more deeply than any of us."

Answer: pungi

Answer: A barber

Answer: professional musicians

Answer: Ali Bux

Answer: Afghanistan

Item	Positive	Negative	Neutral
1. teaching children music	✓
2. the film world			✓
3. migrating to the U.S.A.		✓
4. playing at temples	✓
5. getting the Bharat Ratna	✓
6. the banks of the Ganga	✓
7. leaving Benaras and Dumraon		✓

Answer: Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence because it had a shrill and unpleasant sound. It was considered a reeded noisemaker that produced harsh, unpleasant music.

Answer: A shehnai is different from a pungi because it has a longer and broader pipe with a natural hollow stem. It has seven holes on its body, and when played by closing and opening these holes, it produces soft and melodious sounds.

Answer: The shehnai was traditionally played in temples and at North Indian weddings. It was also part of the naubat or traditional ensemble of nine instruments at royal courts. Bismillah Khan brought this instrument to the classical stage and made it a solo performance instrument.

Answer: Bismillah Khan got his big break with the opening of All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He soon became an often-heard shehnai player on radio, which brought him national recognition.

Answer: On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai at the Red Fort in Delhi. The event was historic because he became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai on the occasion of India's independence.

Answer: Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he was deeply attached to Benaras and the holy River Ganga. He asked whether the student could transport the River Ganga to America as well.

Answer: Two instances are:

• He said, "Whenever I am in a foreign country, I keep yearning to see Hindustan. While in Mumbai, I think of only Benaras and the holy Ganga."
• He refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. even though he was offered the chance to recreate the atmosphere of Benaras there.

1. The school sports team hopes to win the championship.

2. We all want to live happily and peacefully.

3. They advised the hearing-impaired child's mother to take her to a specialist.

4. The authorities permitted us to organise a cultural programme in the school.

5. A musician decided to learn a new instrument.

1. the home of royal people (1) → royal residence
2. the state of being alone (5) → solitude
3. a part which is absolutely necessary (2) → indispensable
4. to do something not done before (5) → improvise
5. without much effort (13) → effortlessly
6. quickly and in large quantities (9) → thick and fast

1. When something is revived, it lives again.
2. When a government bans something, it wants it stopped.
3. When something is considered auspicious, welcome it.
4. When we take to something, we find it interesting.
5. When you appreciate something, you find it good and useful.
6. When you replicate something, you do it for the second time.
7. When we come to terms with something, it is no longer upsetting.

adjective	only before noun	not before noun	both before and after the verb be
indispensable			✓
impressed		✓
afraid		✓
outdoor	✓
paternal	✓
countless	✓
priceless			✓

Answer: I am honoured to introduce the legendary vocalist, Padma Bhushan Kishori Amonkar, who is widely considered the finest female vocalist of her generation. Born in 1931 as the daughter of the great artist Smt. Mogubai Kurdikar, she absorbed the approach and repertoire of her distinguished mother's teacher, Ustad Alladiya Khan. As a mature artist, her approach is regarded as an individual and unique variant of the Jaipur model. She is a thinker and a perfectionist who dissects raagas with the precision of a scientist. She is deeply inspired by the teachings of ancient Vedic sages. We welcome you to this evening of soulful music.

Answer:

Evelyn Glennie: Evelyn Glennie wanted to 'go' to the top of the world of music as a percussionist. Despite being profoundly deaf, she was determined to lead a normal life and pursue her interest in music. She worked harder than classical musicians and practised relentlessly. Her goal was to become a successful solo percussionist and to bring percussion to the front of the orchestra. She achieved her goal by becoming the world's most sought-after multi-percussionist with a mastery of some thousand instruments.

Ustad Bismillah Khan: Ustad Bismillah Khan wanted to 'go' to the highest level of mastery in playing the shehnai and to bring this instrument to the classical stage. He practised for hours in the temples of Balaji and Mangala Maiya and on the banks of the Ganga. His hard work and dedication made him the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai on 15 August 1947. He earned the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, and became an internationally renowned shehnai maestro.