The Sound of Music Summary: A Classic Story by Maria von Trapp

There are two parts to the NCERT Class 9 The Sound of Music chapter. Both the parts deal with music and the journey of legendary musicians Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan who achieved excellence in their respective fields.

About the Author

Deborah Cowley was a freelance writer and a broadcaster. She also worked as a reporter for CBC radio in Washington. 

Theme

This chapter, ‘The Sound of Music’ is about two renowned maestros, Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan. This chapter provides an insight into the journey of these two great legends in the field of music and the instruments they play. It teaches us that with hard work and strong determination, one can achieve anything in life.

The first section focuses on Evelyn's struggle and her ascending journey to life as a successful musician. She was originally from Scotland. Evelyn became deaf at the age of eleven because of a nerve injury. She can't hear music, but she can feel it. She was a multi-percussionist, which means she could play 100 different instruments flawlessly. 

She had a passion for music, so she pursued her ambitions and was accepted to the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London. It explains how she rose to global fame. She is a huge encouragement to the special-needs community.

The second section is about Bismillah Khan, who introduced the Indian music industry to 'Shehnai.' He grew up in a musical family and began learning music at a young age. He performed at numerous events and programmes and was the only person invited to play Shehnai in Red Fort. 

He was awarded the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, and Bharat Ratna, and he took shehnai to an international level. In Tehran, he also has an auditorium named after him. The author of this story tells us about two prominent musicians' contributions to the world of music.

Sound of Music Part 1

The Title

The feature's title, "Sound of Music," is apt because it tells the inspirational success story of renowned musician Evelyn Glennie. The subtitle "Evelyn Glennie listens to sound without hearing it" gives some idea as to what the readers will learn. It makes people wonder how, despite her deafness, Glennie gained sensitivity to the sound of music. She could feel the sound and vibrations of music in her skin, her hair - through every part of her physical frame.

Summary Part 1

The first part of the chapter begins with a seventeen-year-old girl who was very nervous about her first day at the famous Royal Academy of Music, in London. She was deaf, which was a huge challenge in her life. Evelyn Glennie was from Scotland. When she was eight-year-old, her mother realized that her hearing ability was becoming weak. She hid that from her friends and teachers. 

By the time she turned eleven, Evelyn’s disability became very evident to everyone. The headmistress of the school asked her mother to take her to a specialist. Her mother was told that her hearing loss was due to gradual nerve damage. She was advised to wear a hearing aid. 

Despite her inability, Evelyn was determined to live a normal life. She wanted to pursue music. One day she saw a girl who was playing the xylophone. She too wanted to play it. Ron Forbes, a percussionist, recognized her talent and told her not to listen through her ears. He advised her to feel the music through other senses. At that moment, Evelyn could sense that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drums from the waist bottom. 

She learned to open her mind and body to different sounds. Since then, she has never looked back. She travelled across the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra. She was determined to make music her life. She auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music, in London by playing the xylophone. She scored the highest grades in the history of the academy. She moved from an orchestral group to solo performances. 

At the end of the three years’ course, she earned most of the top awards. She did not feel proud of her achievements; instead, she said that if one knew one’s goal then one could achieve that. She became the world’s topmost multi-percussionist and she mastered over one thousand instruments. 

Music poured through every part of Evelyn’s body. She always felt the sound of the xylophone passing up the stick into her fingertips. She felt the beat of the drums by leaning on them. She removed her shoes on a wooden platform to feel the vibrations in her body. 

She was awarded the most famous award of the Royal Philharmonic Society, the Soloist Award in 1991. She worked harder than a workaholic and she performed at many concerts. She also performed in prisons and hospitals. She was an inspiration for many disabled people. 

Sound of Music Part 2

The Title

The title is suitable because this section is about the shehnai, a reed musical instrument, and Bismillah Khan, a famous shehnai performer. Shehnai originated from the pungi, which had a terrible voice. Pungi's tonal quality was improved by a naai (barber), and it was played at the court of Shah Emperor Aurangzeb, giving birth to shehnai. The title also honours Bismillah Khan's shehnai, which is known for its beautiful melodies. Bismillah Khan's accomplishments and prizes as a shehnai player are covered in this book.

Summary Part 2

The second part of the chapter portrays the journey of Bismillah Khan. Bismillah Khan was a maestro in ‘Shehnai’. The history of Shehnai says that Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the instrument ‘Pungi’ because of its unpleasant sound. 

A barber reinvented the instrument by taking a pipe with a natural hollow stem and making seven holes on its body. He played on it by opening and closing some of those holes. The instrument produced a melodious sound. The emperor accepted the instrument named ‘Shehnai’. The sound of the shehnai was considered auspicious and so it was played in the temples and at weddings. Ustad Bismillah Khan brought the instrument onto the classical stage. 

Ustad Bismillah Khan was born on March 21, 1916, in a family of musicians in Bihar. His grandfather Rasool Bux Khan played shehnai in the Bhojpur king’s court. His father Paigambar Bux and other ancestors were also great shehnai players. When Bismillah Khan was three years old, he went to his maternal uncle’s house and he was very impressed by his uncle’s practice of shehnai. 

He accompanied his uncle to the Vishnu temple of Banaras where his uncle performed. Soon, he started practising playing this instrument. Over the years, the temple of Balaji and Mangala Maiya in Banaras and the banks of Ganges became his practice grounds. 

At the age of fourteen, Bismillah accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music conference. The opening of the All-India Radio in Lucknow in 1938 became a big breakthrough for him. He started playing shehnai on the radio. He was the first Indian to greet the nation’s independence with his shehnai on 15th August 1947. He played Raag Kafi from the Red Fort. 

Bismillah Khan has given many memorable performances all over the world. He also made music for two movies, which made sky-high records. He was the first Indian to be invited to perform at the Lincoln Centre Hall in the USA. He performed in many art festivals and trade fairs across the globe. An auditorium was named after him in Teheran. 

He was conferred with National awards like Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. He was awarded India’s highest civilian award, the ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 2001. He always conveyed to teach children music, which is one of the richest traditions of India. 

Though Bismillah Khan travelled all over the world, he loved his roots the most. He is a perfect example of an Indian who celebrated the rich culture of Indian music. 

Moral of the Story

Evelyn Glennie and Bismillah Khan, two great music maestros, have proved to the world that the virtues of hard work and extraordinary efforts are constantly rewarded via their accomplishments. 

Evelyn Glennie rose to international acclaim as a multi-percussionist because of her tireless efforts, which enabled her to overcome her handicap. Rather than giving in to her deafness, she made every attempt to hear music through various parts of her body and never looked back. With her perseverance, she made it to the Royal Academy of Music in London and received some of the most prestigious accolades. Her unwavering dedication to her art has elevated percussion to a new level on the global stage.

Bismillah Khan, like Evelyn, was devoted to his art and rose to fame as a “Shehnai Vaadak”. He, too, worked hard to turn the shehnai into a classical instrument. He greatly improved on what he had inherited by broadening the range of the shehnai. His dedication helped him win the most coveted prize in India and the globe. Thus, both of their lives are wonderful examples of how hard work and dedication can lead to great success.