Is There Disabled Music?: Music and the Body from Dame Evelyn Glennie’s Perspective

Abstract

This chapter explores the topic of the disabled body and music, with particular emphasis on the intersection of representation, performance, and creativity. After raising and examining a set of theoretical issues, the chapter centers on the interview with the percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, which addresses from a practitioner’s perspective queries that are not limited to disability and music, but also extend to performance, media, and hearing. Glennie’s notion of hearing is similar to what Straus proposes as “disablist” hearing, a more comprehensive and holistic mode of hearing including the tactile dimension, seeing, and kinesthetics of music listening. The question of how closely music and the body are intertwined is epitomized in her notion of true listening.