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 The Sound of Music 

Summary

Question 1:

Answer these questions in a few words or a couple of sentences each.

1. How old was Evelyn when she went to the Royal Academy of Music?

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

Answer:

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

2. Her deafness was first noticed by her mother when Evelyn was eight years old. She was once waiting to

play the piano. When her name was called, she did not move. That was when her mother realized that

Evelyn had not heard anything. Her deafness was confirmed when she was eleven. Her marks had

deteriorated and her headmistress had urged her parents to take her to a specialist. It was

then discovered that gradual nerve damage had severely impaired her hearing.

Question 2:

Answer each of these questions in a short paragraph (30 – 40 words).

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

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

Answer:

1. Percussionist Ron Forbes was the first person to notice Evelyn’s potential. He began by tuning two large drums to different notes. He asked Evelyn not to listen through her ears but to try and sense the sound in some other manner. Suddenly Evelyn realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist upand the lower drum from the waist down. Forbes repeated the exercise and Evelyn realized that she could sense certain notes in different parts of her body.

2. Evelyn always delighted her audience. She had toured the United Kingdom with a youth orchestra. She had a very hectic international schedule. Apart from the regular concerts, she gave free concerts in prisons and hospitals. She gave high priority to classes for young musicians because of which she was a shining inspiration for deaf children.

Question 3: Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100 – 150 words).

1. How does Evelyn hear music?

Answer:

Evelyn heard music by sensing the notes in different parts of her body. When Ron Forbes tuned two drums and asked her to sense the sound without using her ears, she realized that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower drum from the waist down. When she played the xylophone, she could sense the sound passing up the stick into her fingertips. By leaning against the drums, she could feel the resonances flowing into her body. On a wooden platform, she removed her shoes so that the vibrations could pass through her bare feet. She herself said that music poured in through every part of her body. It tingled in the skin, her cheekbones and even in her hair.

Question 1:

Tick the right answer.

1. The (shehnai, pungi) was a ‘reeded noisemaker.’

2. (Bismillah Khan, A barber, Ali Bux) transformed the pungi into a shehnai.

3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were (barbers, professional musicians).

4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from (Ali Bux, Paigambar Bux, Ustad Faiyaaz Khan).

5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to (Afghanistan, U.S.A., Canada).

Answer:

1. The pungi was a ‘reeded noisemaker.’

2. A barber transformed the pungi into a shehnai.

3. Bismillah Khan’s paternal ancestors were professional musicians.

4. Bismillah Khan learnt to play the shehnai from Ali Bux.

5. Bismillah Khan’s first trip abroad was to Afghanistan.

Question 3:

Answer these questions in 30 – 40 words.

1. Why did Aurangzeb ban the playing of the pungi?

2. How is a shehnai different from a pungi?

3. Where was the shehnai played traditionally? How did Bismillah Khan change this?

4. When and how did Bismillah Khan get his big break?

5. Where did Bismillah Khan play the shehnai on 15 August 1947? Why was the event historic?

6. Why did Bismillah Khan refuse to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A.?

7. Find at least two instances in the text which tell you that Bismillah Khan loves India and Benaras.

Answer:

1. Emperor Aurangzeb banned the playing of the pungi in the royal residence for it had a shrill and

unpleasant sound. It became the generic name for reeded noisemakers.

2. Shehnai is a pipe with a natural hollow stem that is longer and broader than the pungi. It has seven

holes on its body. When it is played, the closing and opening of some of the holes produces soft and

melodious sounds.

3. Traditionally, the shehnai was part of the traditional ensemble of nine instruments found at royal courts.It was used only in temples and weddings. However, Ustad Bismillah Khan brought in the change by bringing it onto the classical stage.

4. Bismillah Khan had accompanied his uncle to the Allahabad Music Conference at the age of fourteen. At the end of his recital, Ustad Faiyaz Khan patted his back and told him to work hard and he shall make it big in life. He got his big break with the opening of the All India Radio in Lucknow in 1938. He soon became an often-heard shehnai player on radio.

5. On 15 August 1947, Bismillah Khan played the shehnai from the Red Fort. It was a historic day as India gained independence on that day. He became the first Indian to greet the nation with his shehnai. His audience included illustrious names such as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi.

6. Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not. He himself said that

whenever he was in a foreign country, he kept yearning to see Hindustan.

7. Bismillah Khan immensely loved India, particularly Benaras and Dumraon. In his initial years, the temple of Balaji, Mangala Maiya, and the banks of River Ganga in Benaras became his favourite haunts where he could practice in peace and solitude. River Ganga’s flowing waters inspired him to improvise and invent ragas that were once thought to be beyond the range of shehnai. Bismillah Khan refused to start a shehnai school in the U.S.A. because he could not live outside India. His student, who had asked him to head the shehnai school, promised that he would recreate the atmosphere of Benaras by replicating the temples in the city. However, he wanted to know if his student could also transport River Ganga, which his student obviously could not.

EXTRA QUESTIONS: 

short questions