Where’s that music coming from?

What is your favourite type of music? Do you know anything about its history? Over the years, as people
have moved or travelled, they have taken with them the music of their cultures – Celtic folk from Ireland
and the U.K., flamenco from Spain, or bhangra from India. As a result, a lot of present day popular music
has originated from the traditional songs and rhythms heard in various countries around the world. For
decades, musicians have adapted traditional musical styles to make them more appealing to ordinary
people. Bob Marley made reggae, previously unique to Jamaica, popular around the world in the 1970s
and 1980s, with hits like ‘No Woman, No Cry’. Now, this rhythm can still be heard on beaches across the
globe.
Bhangra, a traditional music originally played to celebrate harvests or weddings in Indian villages, was
brought to the U.K. by Indian immigrants. It became popular in the 1980s as the Indian immigrant
population grew. This lively, energetic, drum-based beat has been mixed with other musical genres such
as jazz and rock. Bhangra influence can now be heard on dance floors in the cities like London and
Singapore, where a high percentage of the population comes from Indian immigrant families.
In the U.S., Rock and Roll has its roots in African-American culture and in traditional musical styles such
as Rhythm and Blues. By the mid-50s many white musicians, such as Elvis Presley, were singing and
playing music that was previously performed only by black artists. Many DJs in the U.S. also began
playing this ‘new’ music, now called Rock and Roll, on the radio stations. A sound that began in small
nightclubs in the U.S. was eventually exported to other parts of the world. Likewise, jazz is a style of
music that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African-American communities in the
Southern United States. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from
19th and 20th century American popular music. The word ‘jazz’ (in early years also spelt ‘jass’) began as
a West Coast slang term and was first used to refer to music in Chicago in about 1915.
Language has helped to popularize music from different countries. The Japanese pop star Hikaru Utada
became famous in her native country, and around the world, by combining Japanese pop styles with lyrics
in English. Other artists, such as the Spaniard Enrique Iglesias, mix English lyrics with their native
languages and have also made a big impact on the world pop scene. Much of the pop music we hear today
is a mixture of styles from various parts of the world. With the ability now to share music using the
Internet, the musical styles we listen to may become even more appealing and diverse tomorrow.

Robbery of the century

Precious stones are found in different parts of the world. Burma, a country located in south-east Asia, has
been one of the most important precious stone producing countries for many centuries. Burmese rubies* in
particular have often surprised the experts with their clarity and size. Some of them were so amazing that
they were given special names. For example, a 100-carat ruby discovered at the beginning of the twentieth
century was named the De Long Star Ruby after one of its owners. In terms of size, the De Long Star
Ruby is the second largest star ruby in the world after the Rosser Reeves Star Ruby. Star rubies reflect a
six point star on the surface. The star effect is best seen in the sunlight or when the stone is examined
under an artificial source of light.
The De Long Ruby has an interesting history. In the 1930s, a businessman called Martin Leo Ehrmann
bought this unusual ruby and in 1937 he sold it to Mrs. Edith De Long for 21,400 dollars. Mrs. De Long
then gifted it to the American Museum of Natural History in the same year. The museum exhibited the
extraordinary ruby together with another famous precious stone, the Star of India, which is a light blue
sapphire. The two stones were displayed in the Morgan Hall of Precious Stones and became two of the
most popular exhibits in the collection.
In 1964, several valuable stones, including the De Long Star Ruby, were stolen by a famous surfer Jack
Murphy and two of his companions. The robbers stole precious stones and left the museum without being
noticed, which was possible because one of the windows on the second floor was regularly left open.
Murphy and his partners climbed in through that open window. It was amazing that no one had tried to
burgle the museum before.
The value of the stolen stones was more than four hundred thousand dollars, making this the largest
robbery ever at the time. The news media called it the Robbery of the Century. Three of the stones were
so famous that they would be impossible to sell, so the museum authorities managed to pay money to the
burglars and got the precious stones back. Some sources say that the robbers left the stones in a phone
booth in Florida, others claim that they were left in a storeroom at a bus station in Miami. Jack Murphy
and both of his partners, Alan Kuhn and Roger Clark, were arrested two days after the stones were found
and they were sentenced to three years in prison. The robbery later became the subject of a popular
Hollywood movie shot in 1975 and named ‘Murph the Surf’. The movie was directed by Marvin
Chomsky and it starred Don Stroud as Murphy.

Everest - where the earth meets the sky

where the earth meets the sky

Mount Everest, the highest peak in the Himalayas and the highest point on Earth, has many names. 

Tibetans call it Chomolungma, meaning ‘Mother Goddess of the World’ and the Nepalese call it 

Sagarmatha, meaning ‘Goddess of the Sky’. Others call it the ‘Roof of the World’. In English the 

mountain is named after a Welsh geographer Sir George Everest, who lived between 1790-1866. George 

Everest was a scientist and a researcher, who for many years and despite numerous hardships, carried out 

geographical research about India and Nepal and drew maps of these territories. 

The great Himalayas, the highest mountain range in the world, extend 2,400 kilometres along four 

countries of Asia: China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. Mount Everest, which is on the border of Tibet and 

Nepal, is 8,848 metres high, almost twice as high as Mount Elbrus which, at 5,642 metres, is the highest 

point in the Caucasus Mountains and in Europe. 

Everest, with its inspiring power and beauty, has always attracted courageous adventurers and climbers. 

George Mallory, a British climber, was the first to explore a practical route up the mountain in 1921. 

Later, in 1924, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine disappeared during their attempt to make 

the first climb up Everest. It was only after 75 years, in 1999, that Mallory’s body was finally discovered 

by an expedition that had set out to search for the climbers’ bodies. Whether or not Mallory and Irvine 

reached the summit of Everest before they died is still unknown and this is a subject of debate and 

continuing research. 

Such unlucky histories never frightened brave climbers, among whom Sir Edmund Hillary, a New 

Zealander, and Tenzing Norgay from Nepal, were the luckiest. We say the luckiest, because they were the 

first to reach the summit of Everest in 1953. Since then more than two thousand and five hundred men and 

women have stood there. More than two hundred have died in attempts to make it to the top. They were all 

brave people who were not afraid of cold, hunger and death. In 1980 a famous climber Rein Hold Mesner 

reached the summit alone without oxygen. Before that, in 1963, Barry Bishop, from National Geographic, 

climbed Everest as a member of the First American Expedition. Each of these expeditions established new 

routes and produced better maps, thus making things easier for the next generations. 

Nepal is both lucky and unlucky to have Everest on its territory. Lucky, because they have the ‘Roof 

of the World’ and unlucky because this ‘Roof of the World’ attracts too many tourists. The Nepalese 

people joke: ‘We have three religions - Hinduism, Buddhism and Tourism. Tourism lays golden eggs but 

it spoils the nest’. The Nepalese realize that the Himalaya is much, much more than the highest point. It is 

true dazzling beauty and people have to take care of it.