|
| Asmahan |
 |
A
princess by birth and subsequently a queen in the kingdom
of art, Asmahan (Amal al-Atrache) came from an important
clan in the Druze Mountain of Syria, but broke free from
her traditional family background, left her husband, and
became a public performer. She dominated the musical scene
in Cairo during the late 1930's and early 1940's. Her
songs were composed
by the
best Egyptian musicians of the time, such as
Muhammad al-Qasabji, Midhat
Assem, Riad al-Sombati, Abdel Wahab and her brother Farid
al-Atrache. Her style of singing was to enrich the Arabic
song by opening a window to the music of the Western World,
without obliterating the fundamental difference between
the two sorts of music. Throughout her short but stormy
life, she was a figure of glamour and intrigue, and she
died in 1944 in a car accident caused, it is rumoured,
by the war waged between the secret services in Cairo
during World War II.
Ya Toyour is an example of
the early attempts at developing the arabic song and is
a type of venture into opera (music by al-Qasabji,
1940). |
|
|
|
| Aicha
Redouane |
|
Aicha
Redouane is a Moroccan artist who studied music in Paris
and later went to Cairo to study closely the styles of
the Egyptian 19th century music. In 1991 she founded Al-Adwar
Ensemble with Habib Yammine, and set out to sing the style
of the illustrious predecessors.
The lyrics of dor Kadni-l-Hawa (Love has broken me) were
written by Sheikh Muhammad ad-Darwish, and the music is
attributed to the composer Muhammad 'Uthman (1855-1900).
|
|
|
|
| Wadih
El Safi |
|
| Wadih
El Safi, the prominent Lebanese composer and singer of
his time, often described as the "Voice of Lebanon" and
responsible for the mark of distinction and popularity
of the Lebanese musical sound. His name is synonymous
with traditional Lebanese folklore. His tenor voice commends
a unique beauty and evokes
the images and sounds of Lebanese terrain.
Wadie' grew up in a village in the mountains of Lebanon
and later on moved to Beirut, where he began composing
and performing music based on his folklore roots incorporating
a new urban sound, which would be later described as the
urbanization of the Lebanese folk music. |
|
|
|
| Nazem
El Ghazali |
|
| Nazem
El Ghazali (1912-1963) was one of the most popular singers
in the history of Iraq and his songs are still heard by
many in the Arab world. He was born in the Haydar Khanah
quarter in Baghdad, and studied at the Institute of Fine
Arts in Iraq. He started his career as an actor, and after
a few years turned to singing. He worked at the Iraqi
Radio in 1948, and was member of the Andalusian Muashahat
Ensemble. In that period he worked with the great oudist
Jamil Bashir, and together they produced some distinguished
works, such as Fauq el-Nakhal and Marrou 'Alayya el-Hilween.
He was also a student of Mohammad al-Qubbanchi, (el-Kabbandji),
one of the most prominent maqam singers of the last century.
Nazem was renowned for his popular songs and he has also
recorded some maqams. According to many, his refined mellow
voice was the finest in the field. |
|
|
|
| Mohammad
Abdel Wahab |
|
Viewed
by most Arabs as the greatest musician of the twentieth
century, Abdel Wahab had a tremendous influence on Arabic
music, during his long and highly productive life time
and thereafter. He was born in 1902 in one of the popular
neighbourhoods of Cairo, at a time when the musical scene
was dominated by masters of the 19th century school, such
as Abdo Al - Hamouli, Mohammad Othman, Salama Hijazi etc..
and in the beginning of his musical career he followed
their suit. But unlike other great musicians of his generation,
he began since the mid-1930's to venture new forms of
musical composition and added western instruments to the
traditional Arabic orchestra. To a large extent, he can
be considered as the vanguard of modernism in contemporary
Arabic music.
Here we have selected nine songs representing the musical
styles and phases he went through. Muwashah
Mala el-Kasat (1923) belongs to the 19th century
repertoire and it was composed by Mohammad Othman. Minka
Ya Hageru
(1924) is a sufi poem written by Ahmad Shawqi (it exists
in another version and here Abdel Wahab performs it solo
on the oud). Dawr
Ahibb Ashoufak Kulli Youm (1928)
is a composition of Abdel Wahab
along the 19th century
Adwar style.
Qasidat Ya Garat al-Wadi
(1928) is another poem of Ahmad Shawqi and it was also
performed by other famous Arab artists, including Fairouz
and Nour el-Huda. Lamma
Enta Nawi (1929)
belongs also to
this period and the music is attributed to Darwish al-Hariri,
who was one of the pillars of the Oriental Music Institute
in Cairo.
Emta Ezzaman (1932) is a
famous song which has also been sung by many artists.
Yallie
Zara'tu el-Burtoqan (1937) is a fabulous song which
he composed along an Iraqi rythm called maqam el lami,
performed here by Ra`isa Afifi and Mohammad Abdel Wahab.
Ana Wel Azab We Hawak (1955) represents a later
phase when the modernist trend became evident in his works.
|
|
|
|
| Oum
Kulthoum |
|
Oum
Kulthoum is considered as the greatest Arab singer of
our time. Known as Kawkab al Sharq (Star of the Orient),
her songs were and still are heard by millions of people
throughout the Arab World. Thirty years after her passing
away, her love lyrics, national odes and religious chants
continue to affect millions of people, and over 300,000
albums and cassettes of her songs are sold annually, in
Egypt alone. Her performances in Cairo, which took place
on the first Thursday of every month, were a pan-Arab
event, and people from all the Arab countries would fly
into Cairo for the sole purpose of attending her concerts.
With her
words and voice she could create a magical atmosphere
and enchant her listeners as no other Arab singer in the
past or at present has been able to do.
Here we selected six of Oum Kulthoum's great songs. Efrah
Ya Albi (1937), Zalamouni
el-Nas (1948), El
Alb Ye'shaq Koll Gameel (1972)
are three compositions of Riyad al-Sonbati. Madam
Tiheb Btinker Laih was composed by Mohammad al-Qasabji
(1940). Enna Hali Fi Hawaha 'Agab
is
one of her earliest recorded songs (1926) and it is also
the first song al-Qasbji
composed for her. Ahl el-Hawa
is a composition of Zakariya Ahmad (1944). |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
