NCERT Textbook - The Sound of Music | English Class 9 PDF Download

 Page 1


Part I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound
without Hearing It
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE Y Y Y Y YOU OU OU OU OU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back
something extraordinary. What we hear , she feels — far more
deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so
beautifully.”
• Read the following account of a person who fought against a
physical disability and made her life a success story.
1. RUSH hour crowds jostle for position on the
underground train platform. A slight girl, looking
younger than her seventeen years, was nervous yet
excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching
train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough
for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But
this aspiring
 
musician faced a bigger challenge than
most: she was profoundly deaf.
2. Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual.
Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting
to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,”
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn
managed to conceal her growing deafness from
friends and teachers. But by the time she was
eleven her marks had deteriorated and her
headmistress urged her parents to take her to a
2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music
jostle: push roughly
slight: small and
thin
daunting: frightening
aspiring musician: a
person who wants
to be a musician
2024-25 2024-25
Page 2


Part I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound
without Hearing It
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE Y Y Y Y YOU OU OU OU OU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back
something extraordinary. What we hear , she feels — far more
deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so
beautifully.”
• Read the following account of a person who fought against a
physical disability and made her life a success story.
1. RUSH hour crowds jostle for position on the
underground train platform. A slight girl, looking
younger than her seventeen years, was nervous yet
excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching
train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough
for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But
this aspiring
 
musician faced a bigger challenge than
most: she was profoundly deaf.
2. Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual.
Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting
to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,”
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn
managed to conceal her growing deafness from
friends and teachers. But by the time she was
eleven her marks had deteriorated and her
headmistress urged her parents to take her to a
2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music
jostle: push roughly
slight: small and
thin
daunting: frightening
aspiring musician: a
person who wants
to be a musician
2024-25 2024-25
18 / Beehive
specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing
was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve
damage. They were advised that she should be fitted
with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
“Everything suddenly looked black,” says Evelyn.
3. But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was
determined to lead a normal life and pursue her
interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing
a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it
too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but
percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He
began by tuning two large drums to different notes.
“Don’t listen through your ears,” he would say, “try
to sense it some other way.” Says Evelyn, “Suddenly
I realised I could feel the higher drum from the
waist up and the lower one from the waist down.”
Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn
discovered that she could sense certain notes in
different parts of her body. “I had learnt to open my
mind and body to sounds and vibrations.” The rest
was sheer determination and hard work.
4. She never looked back from that point onwards.
She toured the United Kingdom with a youth
orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had
decided to make music her life. She auditioned for
the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the
highest marks in the history of the academy. She
gradually moved from orchestral work to solo
performances. At the end of her three-year course,
she had captured most of the top awards.
5. And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of
heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know
where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got
right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-
percussionist with a mastery of some thousand
instruments, and hectic international schedule.
6. It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function so
effortlessly without hearing. In our two-hour
discussion she never missed a word. “Men with
bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is
xylophone: a musical
instrument with a
row of wooden bars
of different lengths
percussionist: a
person who plays the
drum, the tabla, etc.
potential: quality or
ability that can be
developed
auditioned: gave a
short performance so
that the director
could decide whether
she was good enough
intriguing: fascinating
and curious
impaired: weakened
2024-25 2024-25
Page 3


Part I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound
without Hearing It
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE Y Y Y Y YOU OU OU OU OU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back
something extraordinary. What we hear , she feels — far more
deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so
beautifully.”
• Read the following account of a person who fought against a
physical disability and made her life a success story.
1. RUSH hour crowds jostle for position on the
underground train platform. A slight girl, looking
younger than her seventeen years, was nervous yet
excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching
train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough
for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But
this aspiring
 
musician faced a bigger challenge than
most: she was profoundly deaf.
2. Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual.
Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting
to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,”
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn
managed to conceal her growing deafness from
friends and teachers. But by the time she was
eleven her marks had deteriorated and her
headmistress urged her parents to take her to a
2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music
jostle: push roughly
slight: small and
thin
daunting: frightening
aspiring musician: a
person who wants
to be a musician
2024-25 2024-25
18 / Beehive
specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing
was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve
damage. They were advised that she should be fitted
with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
“Everything suddenly looked black,” says Evelyn.
3. But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was
determined to lead a normal life and pursue her
interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing
a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it
too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but
percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He
began by tuning two large drums to different notes.
“Don’t listen through your ears,” he would say, “try
to sense it some other way.” Says Evelyn, “Suddenly
I realised I could feel the higher drum from the
waist up and the lower one from the waist down.”
Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn
discovered that she could sense certain notes in
different parts of her body. “I had learnt to open my
mind and body to sounds and vibrations.” The rest
was sheer determination and hard work.
4. She never looked back from that point onwards.
She toured the United Kingdom with a youth
orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had
decided to make music her life. She auditioned for
the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the
highest marks in the history of the academy. She
gradually moved from orchestral work to solo
performances. At the end of her three-year course,
she had captured most of the top awards.
5. And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of
heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know
where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got
right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-
percussionist with a mastery of some thousand
instruments, and hectic international schedule.
6. It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function so
effortlessly without hearing. In our two-hour
discussion she never missed a word. “Men with
bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is
xylophone: a musical
instrument with a
row of wooden bars
of different lengths
percussionist: a
person who plays the
drum, the tabla, etc.
potential: quality or
ability that can be
developed
auditioned: gave a
short performance so
that the director
could decide whether
she was good enough
intriguing: fascinating
and curious
impaired: weakened
2024-25 2024-25
The Sound of Music / 19
not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face,
especially the eyes.” She speaks flawlessly
 
with a
Scottish lilt. “My speech is clear because I could
hear till I was eleven,” she says. But that doesn’t
explain how she managed to learn French and
master basic Japanese.
7. As for music, she explains, “It pours in through
every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my
cheekbones and even in my hair.” 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.
It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function
so effortlessly without hearing
tingles: causes a
slight pricking or
stinging sensation
resonances: echoes
of sounds
flawlessly: without a
fault or mistake
lilt: a way of
speaking
2024-25 2024-25
Page 4


Part I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound
without Hearing It
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE Y Y Y Y YOU OU OU OU OU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back
something extraordinary. What we hear , she feels — far more
deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so
beautifully.”
• Read the following account of a person who fought against a
physical disability and made her life a success story.
1. RUSH hour crowds jostle for position on the
underground train platform. A slight girl, looking
younger than her seventeen years, was nervous yet
excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching
train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough
for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But
this aspiring
 
musician faced a bigger challenge than
most: she was profoundly deaf.
2. Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual.
Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting
to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,”
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn
managed to conceal her growing deafness from
friends and teachers. But by the time she was
eleven her marks had deteriorated and her
headmistress urged her parents to take her to a
2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music
jostle: push roughly
slight: small and
thin
daunting: frightening
aspiring musician: a
person who wants
to be a musician
2024-25 2024-25
18 / Beehive
specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing
was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve
damage. They were advised that she should be fitted
with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
“Everything suddenly looked black,” says Evelyn.
3. But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was
determined to lead a normal life and pursue her
interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing
a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it
too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but
percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He
began by tuning two large drums to different notes.
“Don’t listen through your ears,” he would say, “try
to sense it some other way.” Says Evelyn, “Suddenly
I realised I could feel the higher drum from the
waist up and the lower one from the waist down.”
Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn
discovered that she could sense certain notes in
different parts of her body. “I had learnt to open my
mind and body to sounds and vibrations.” The rest
was sheer determination and hard work.
4. She never looked back from that point onwards.
She toured the United Kingdom with a youth
orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had
decided to make music her life. She auditioned for
the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the
highest marks in the history of the academy. She
gradually moved from orchestral work to solo
performances. At the end of her three-year course,
she had captured most of the top awards.
5. And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of
heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know
where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got
right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-
percussionist with a mastery of some thousand
instruments, and hectic international schedule.
6. It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function so
effortlessly without hearing. In our two-hour
discussion she never missed a word. “Men with
bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is
xylophone: a musical
instrument with a
row of wooden bars
of different lengths
percussionist: a
person who plays the
drum, the tabla, etc.
potential: quality or
ability that can be
developed
auditioned: gave a
short performance so
that the director
could decide whether
she was good enough
intriguing: fascinating
and curious
impaired: weakened
2024-25 2024-25
The Sound of Music / 19
not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face,
especially the eyes.” She speaks flawlessly
 
with a
Scottish lilt. “My speech is clear because I could
hear till I was eleven,” she says. But that doesn’t
explain how she managed to learn French and
master basic Japanese.
7. As for music, she explains, “It pours in through
every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my
cheekbones and even in my hair.” 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.
It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function
so effortlessly without hearing
tingles: causes a
slight pricking or
stinging sensation
resonances: echoes
of sounds
flawlessly: without a
fault or mistake
lilt: a way of
speaking
2024-25 2024-25
20 / Beehive
8. Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In
1991 she was presented with the Royal
Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year
Award. Says master percussionist James Blades,
“God may have taken her hearing but he has given
her back something extraordinary. What we hear,
she feels — far more deeply than any of us. That is
why she expresses music so beautifully.”
9. Evelyn confesses that she is something of a
workaholic. “I’ve just got to work ... often harder
than classical musicians. But the rewards are
enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn
also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals.
She also gives high priority to classes for young
musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for
Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration
for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere
that they cannot go.”
10. Evelyn Glennie has already accomplished more than
most people twice her age. She has brought
percussion to the front of the orchestra, and
demonstrated that it can be very moving. She has
given inspiration to those who are handicapped,
people who look to her and say, ‘If she can do it, I
can.’ And, not the least, she has given enormous
pleasure to millions.
DEBORAH COWLEY
Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the Te e e e ext xt xt xt xt
I. 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?
II. 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.
III. Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100–150 words).
1. How does Evelyn hear music?
priority: great
importance
workaholic (informal):
a person who finds it
difficult to stop
working
2024-25 2024-25
Page 5


Part I
Evelyn Glennie Listens to Sound
without Hearing It
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE Y Y Y Y YOU OU OU OU OU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• “God may have taken her hearing but he has given her back
something extraordinary. What we hear , she feels — far more
deeply than any of us. That is why she expresses music so
beautifully.”
• Read the following account of a person who fought against a
physical disability and made her life a success story.
1. RUSH hour crowds jostle for position on the
underground train platform. A slight girl, looking
younger than her seventeen years, was nervous yet
excited as she felt the vibrations of the approaching
train. It was her first day at the prestigious Royal
Academy of Music in London and daunting enough
for any teenager fresh from a Scottish farm. But
this aspiring
 
musician faced a bigger challenge than
most: she was profoundly deaf.
2. Evelyn Glennie’s loss of hearing had been gradual.
Her mother remembers noticing something was
wrong when the eight-year-old Evelyn was waiting
to play the piano. “They called her name and she
didn’t move. I suddenly realised she hadn’t heard,”
says Isabel Glennie. For quite a while Evelyn
managed to conceal her growing deafness from
friends and teachers. But by the time she was
eleven her marks had deteriorated and her
headmistress urged her parents to take her to a
2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music 2. The Sound of Music
jostle: push roughly
slight: small and
thin
daunting: frightening
aspiring musician: a
person who wants
to be a musician
2024-25 2024-25
18 / Beehive
specialist. It was then discovered that her hearing
was severely impaired as a result of gradual nerve
damage. They were advised that she should be fitted
with hearing aids and sent to a school for the deaf.
“Everything suddenly looked black,” says Evelyn.
3. But Evelyn was not going to give up. She was
determined to lead a normal life and pursue her
interest in music. One day she noticed a girl playing
a xylophone and decided that she wanted to play it
too. Most of the teachers discouraged her but
percussionist Ron Forbes spotted her potential. He
began by tuning two large drums to different notes.
“Don’t listen through your ears,” he would say, “try
to sense it some other way.” Says Evelyn, “Suddenly
I realised I could feel the higher drum from the
waist up and the lower one from the waist down.”
Forbes repeated the exercise, and soon Evelyn
discovered that she could sense certain notes in
different parts of her body. “I had learnt to open my
mind and body to sounds and vibrations.” The rest
was sheer determination and hard work.
4. She never looked back from that point onwards.
She toured the United Kingdom with a youth
orchestra and by the time she was sixteen, she had
decided to make music her life. She auditioned for
the Royal Academy of Music and scored one of the
highest marks in the history of the academy. She
gradually moved from orchestral work to solo
performances. At the end of her three-year course,
she had captured most of the top awards.
5. And for all this, Evelyn won’t accept any hint of
heroic achievement. “If you work hard and know
where you are going, you’ll get there.” And she got
right to the top, the world’s most sought-after multi-
percussionist with a mastery of some thousand
instruments, and hectic international schedule.
6. It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function so
effortlessly without hearing. In our two-hour
discussion she never missed a word. “Men with
bushy beards give me trouble,” she laughed. “It is
xylophone: a musical
instrument with a
row of wooden bars
of different lengths
percussionist: a
person who plays the
drum, the tabla, etc.
potential: quality or
ability that can be
developed
auditioned: gave a
short performance so
that the director
could decide whether
she was good enough
intriguing: fascinating
and curious
impaired: weakened
2024-25 2024-25
The Sound of Music / 19
not just watching the lips, it’s the whole face,
especially the eyes.” She speaks flawlessly
 
with a
Scottish lilt. “My speech is clear because I could
hear till I was eleven,” she says. But that doesn’t
explain how she managed to learn French and
master basic Japanese.
7. As for music, she explains, “It pours in through
every part of my body. It tingles in the skin, my
cheekbones and even in my hair.” 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.
It is intriguing to watch Evelyn function
so effortlessly without hearing
tingles: causes a
slight pricking or
stinging sensation
resonances: echoes
of sounds
flawlessly: without a
fault or mistake
lilt: a way of
speaking
2024-25 2024-25
20 / Beehive
8. Not surprisingly, Evelyn delights her audiences. In
1991 she was presented with the Royal
Philharmonic Society’s prestigious Soloist of the Year
Award. Says master percussionist James Blades,
“God may have taken her hearing but he has given
her back something extraordinary. What we hear,
she feels — far more deeply than any of us. That is
why she expresses music so beautifully.”
9. Evelyn confesses that she is something of a
workaholic. “I’ve just got to work ... often harder
than classical musicians. But the rewards are
enormous.” Apart from the regular concerts, Evelyn
also gives free concerts in prisons and hospitals.
She also gives high priority to classes for young
musicians. Ann Richlin of the Beethoven Fund for
Deaf Children says, “She is a shining inspiration
for deaf children. They see that there is nowhere
that they cannot go.”
10. Evelyn Glennie has already accomplished more than
most people twice her age. She has brought
percussion to the front of the orchestra, and
demonstrated that it can be very moving. She has
given inspiration to those who are handicapped,
people who look to her and say, ‘If she can do it, I
can.’ And, not the least, she has given enormous
pleasure to millions.
DEBORAH COWLEY
Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the T Thinking about the Te e e e ext xt xt xt xt
I. 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?
II. 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.
III. Answer the question in two or three paragraphs (100–150 words).
1. How does Evelyn hear music?
priority: great
importance
workaholic (informal):
a person who finds it
difficult to stop
working
2024-25 2024-25
The Sound of Music / 21
Part II
The Shehnai of Bismillah Khan
B B B B BEFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE EFORE     YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU R R R R READ EAD EAD EAD EAD
• Do you know these people? What instruments do they play?
• Think of the shehnai and the first thing you’ll probably imagine
is a wedding or a similar occasion or function. The next would
probably be Ustad Bismillah Khan, the shehnai maestro,
playing this instrument.
1. EMPEROR Aurangzeb banned the playing of a musical
instrument called pungi in the royal residence for
it had a shrill unpleasant sound. Pungi became the
generic name for reeded noisemakers. Few had
thought that it would one day be revived. A barber
of a family of professional musicians, who had access
to the royal palace, decided to improve the tonal
quality of the pungi. He chose a pipe with a natural
hollow stem that was longer and broader than the
pungi, and made seven holes on the body of the
pipe. When he played on it, closing and opening
some of these holes, soft and melodious sounds were
generic name: a name
given to a class or
group as a whole
reeded: wind
instruments which
have reeds like the
flute, the clarinet, etc.
2024-25 2024-25