أسمهان
Club du Disque Arabe / Les Artistes Arabes Associés AAA 004
ed.1988
01 - Aleïk
salat Allah [6:17]
02 - Laïta lilbarraqi [5:42]
03 - Farraq ma beïna [6:00]
04 - Naouit adari [6:12]
05 - Ya layali elbichr [5:37]
06 - Asquiniha [6:39]
07 - Layali elouns [11:07]
08 - Ya habibi taâla [5:35]
09 - Dakhalt marra [5:28]
Although Asmahan's is probably the only voice that can be compared with
Um KaAltsum's it has qualities of its own, having much tenderness and
feminity to offset the greater prefection of the "Grand Old Lady's".
Like the older members of the family, she came from the Djebel Druse
where her forebears were the Emirs until Lebanon and Syria became a
French mandate.
Born in 1918, she lived in Lebanon until 1920, when her father was
appointed Governor of the Province of Demergi in Turkey. He soon
returned, however, to spend the remainder of his lifeas an ordinary
citizen in his native mountains. Asmahan's father died in 1924, when
she was only six, and her family then emigrated to Egypt, where the
little princess, who had been cherished by her father, was to
experience the hardships which befall a family that has fallen upon
evil days. Although of noble origin, her mother Set Aleya was reduced
to singing at private parties to support herself and her children,
three boys and a girl, the future Asmahan. Everyone in the family could
sing, but success was only to crown the efforts of the two more gifted:
Farid and Asmahan.
Asmahan knew something about the European way of singing - perhaps she
had gained it just by listening - and she probably unconsciously made
use of this knowledge when interpreting genuinely authentic Arabic
songs. This is very noticeable in for example "dakhalt marra fignina"
by Mid'het Assem and "ya tûyûr" by Kassabgi. Yet an Arabic
listener was not disturbed by this foreign element for Asmahan was at
the same time a past-master of every aspect of Arabic song. This voice,
alas too soon silenced, dominated Arabic singing in the thirties to
such an extent that - with the possible exception of ZakariaAhmed -
composers who were working for Ûm Kalsûm wanted to work
with Asmahan.
It was "aleïk salat allah", a chant composed by Farid Elatrash
that launched her as a singer. He had composed it as a musical
illustration to the film El Mahmal Esharif, afilm about the caravan
transporting every second year the embroidered material going to shroud
the Sacred Shrines: black velvet for the Kaaba, green silk for the Tomb
of the Prophet in Medina. It's the waqf - a Cairene religious
association whom tied up legacies have been bequeathed through the
years - that gets a number of unpaid women to embroider them. The song
above was first interpreted by Farid; then the producer preferred the
interpretation by Asmahan, the one which was going to be known all over
the world in the1937-38.
Asmahan never fell into the trap of interpreting the works of one
composer alone, as Faïza Ahmed, and Warda at the beginning of her
career, later did. She cooperated with her brother Farid in the
film "intissar echabab" and "gharam wentiqam" but she insisted on
singing songs by other composers. She collaborated with Kassabgi, Riad
Sombati and even with Abdelwahab (in the Operette "magnûn
Leïla" in the film "yûm saïd") although he was noton
good terms with her brother at the time.
The way Asmahan sang her songs awakened people and intrigued their ear
accustomed to traditional music. The song"ayûh
ennaïmû" by Riad Sombati in the film "gharam wentiqam"
proved that it is possible to give a highly dramatic interpretation of
an Arabic song without losing its Oriental character.
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.
Although her life was short her influence on Arabic singing will stil
be felt for a long time. Whereas Ûm Kalsûm brought
classical singing to a perfection surpassing that aimed at by
hermasters such as Abû al-°Ila, Asmahan's style of
interpretation has enriched Arabic song by opening a window to the
music of the Western World, without obliterating the fundamental
difference between the two sorts of music. The mastery she displayed
when interpreting an Arabic songin the classical manner such as
"leïta lilbarraqi aïnan" was equalled by that she showed when
singing "ya tûyûr" in a styleinfluenced by Western
technique, and the wonder is that, in doing so, she did not disturb in
the least Arabic listeners.
A. Hachlef