Quotes By Evelyn Glennie
Percussion is physical, as most instruments are. The body must function well in order to play the instruments well. Last year I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro.
Evelyn Glennie
The audience plays a huge part in how a piece will actually form. They really allow the performers to walk a tightrope in a way that never seems to happen in the privacy of your own four walls. I'm listening to the audience, and they're listening to me.
Evelyn Glennie
I love out-of-the-way, rugged places. For me, holidays are about the experiences, and the people, and the memories, rather than sitting on a nice beach getting tanned. I try to plant myself where I am and embrace what is there in front of me.
Evelyn Glennie
I just assumed the world was full of solo percussionists. I couldn't find sticks or music or anything where I was, but that was expected because there was nothing there anyway. And I think that was possibly the greatest asset for me, just not knowing.
Evelyn Glennie
I associate going to an airport with work because I travel so much with my job. So when I have a few days free from work, I tend to stay at home.
Evelyn Glennie
Once you're in a particular country, and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music, you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.
Evelyn Glennie
There are many collaborations I'd like to explore. One is to co-write a rap concerto with Eminem.
Evelyn Glennie
A large part of my work has been collaborating with composers; I think we've commissioned about 140 pieces now, a lot of them percussion concertos.
Evelyn Glennie
Your mallet or your stick goes through the instrument, the sound goes out and then wherever the sound goes nobody knows, you know.
Evelyn Glennie
My hearing is out of the ordinary as others might see it, but not for me. I'm used to my hearing in the same way that I'm used to the size of my hands.
Evelyn Glennie
If I just simply let go, and allow my hand, my arm, to be more of a support system, suddenly - I have more dynamic with less effort. Much more, and I just feel, at last, one with the stick, and one with the drum.
Evelyn Glennie
I think I can only help to expose percussion to all sorts of people. The balance between the lighter and more serious side is important.
Evelyn Glennie
The human body and mind are tremendous forces that are continually amazing scientists and society. Therefore, we have no choice but to keep an open mind as to what the human being can achieve.
Evelyn Glennie
Hearing is a form of touch. You feel it through your body, and sometimes it almost hits your face.
Evelyn Glennie
Holidays are about experiences and people, and tuning into what you feel like doing at that moment. Enjoy not having to look at a watch.
Evelyn Glennie
Concerts have to be seen as a real event for which the aim is to try and feed everybody.
Evelyn Glennie
There's still a lot I need to do as a player, as a musician, as a sound creator. I have commissioned 170 pieces: that's still not enough, there are still lots and lots of composers I would like to approach. When I see a composer and I see a performer, I think to combine those forces.
Evelyn Glennie
I want to be able to say on my deathbed that I reached a few people. That would be very nice, just to be able to say that.
Evelyn Glennie
Percussion is the most adaptable family of instruments. The biggest challenge is to project percussion in a lyrical way.
Evelyn Glennie
When I was 12, I happened to see a schoolmate playing percussion, and it looked interesting. I asked for lessons, and it felt right.
Evelyn Glennie
And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.
Evelyn Glennie
My favorite instrument is the snare drum. In Scotland, the snare drum is very prominent in Highland bands. The Scottish style of playing is in my blood. It's a very powerful instrument, but it can also be soothing, like velvet. It's a real challenge for composers.
Evelyn Glennie
I often play on the cello-bass side of the orchestra, because I prefer the deep sounds. I can't hear the violins well.
Evelyn Glennie
It's the things that you notice when you're not actually with your instrument that, in fact, become so interesting, and that you - you want to explore, through this tiny tiny surface of a drum.
Evelyn Glennie
Music is about communication... it isn't just something that maybe physically sounds good or orally sounds interesting; it's something far, far deeper than that.
Evelyn Glennie