The Sound of Music: Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It

The Sound of Music: Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound without Hearing It is an inspiring chapter that explores the extraordinary journey of a world-famous percussionist who overcame deafness to achieve greatness in music. It highlights how Evelyn Glennie discovered a unique way of experiencing music through vibrations and determination, proving that true talent goes beyond physical limitations.

Table of Contents

• Chapter Synopsis
• Chapter Summary

Chapter Synopsis

The chapter ‘The Sound of Music’ comprises two parts. Both deal with different aspects of music and legendary musicians who reached the pinnacle of success in their respective fields.

The first part of the chapter deals with multi-percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Evelyn Glennie lost her hearing gradually and became deaf at a very young age. Until the age of eleven, she was able to hear, and thus she developed clear speech. However, her hard work and perseverance helped her pursue her passion for music, and she became one of the world’s most renowned multi-percussionists.

Chapter Summary

Evelyn Glennie, a multi-percussionist, overcame her physical disability to pursue a successful music career. Evelyn Glennie is an extremely talented percussionist who can play a wide range of instruments to perfection. Despite the fact that she is profoundly deaf, she did not withdraw and continued learning music.

It is fascinating to note that although she is completely deaf, she has an extraordinary ability to sense music through her body rather than her ears. Evelyn was not born deaf, but she lost her hearing ability by the time she was eleven years old. Ron Forbes, who recognised her as a percussionist, instructed her to feel the music instead of hearing. This gave a new ray of hope to open her mind and body to the sounds and vibrations. She discovered that she could feel the higher drum from the waist up and the lower from the waist down.

Evelyn joined a youth orchestra and toured the United Kingdom with them. She auditioned at the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the highest marks in the history of the music academy. She received numerous awards and accolades for her extraordinary performances. She was honoured with the Royal Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year Award in 1991. Evelyn revealed that she was a workaholic and she works harder than other classical musicians. Apart from her

concerts, she had performed in hospitals, prisons, and also to aspiring young musicians. Thus, she is an inspiration for all the people who are specially abled.