Mohamed Abdelwahab, vol. I - 1920-1925 /AAA 011

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Les Artistes Arabes Associés - AAA 011
1920-1925 (ed. 1989)




محمد عبد الوهاب




1920
01 - Waylahou ma hilalti  [6:31]
Qasidah du Salama Higazi
02 - Ataïtou fa alfaïtoua sahira   [6:35]
Qasidah du Salama Higazi

1923
03 - Minka ya hajirou daï   [6:13]
Ahmed Chawki
04 - Manich bahebbek   [6:18]
Ahmed Rami
05 - Mala elkassat   [6:30]
Mouwachaha classique du Ch. Ahmed Achour

1924
06 - Dar elbachayer   [6:45]
Ahmed Chawki
07 - Mal elfouad dha   [6:02]
Ibrahim Abdallah
08 - Taali noufni nafsaïna   [6:25]
Ahmed Rami

1925
09 - Batet tounaji   [6:26]
Jalal Rodwane
10 - Sayed elqamar   [6:10]
Ahmed Chawki

ABDUL WAHAB - THE FATHER OF MODERN EGYPTIAN SONG

by Habeeb Salloum

From the 1930's to well into the 1970's, Muhammad Abdul Wahab was, to the vast majority of Arabic speaking peoples, a giant in the world of Middle Eastern entertainment. Every Arab who could afford it bought his records or tapes and listened for hours to his singing on radio and, later, television. His captivating voice brought to their mind the glorious days of Arab culture -- the time when Arabic music and song were the epitome of merriment. His rendering in melody of the classical poetry from the Arab's golden age and that of their modern struggle against Western colonialism inspired in his listeners a feeling of pride in their rich heritage.

I remember, in the 1950's, being bewitched with his voice as he sang these words of Ahmad Shawky, an Egyptian poet who became famous in the early part of this century: "Greetings to the gentle breezes of River Barada, Never-ending are the tears, 0 glorious Damascus. The blood of our martyrs, France knows well, And knows that it is truth and Justice."

These words would thrill and imbue me with an appreciation of Arab history and entertainment and, at the same time, gave me immense enjoyment.

Muhammad Abdul Wahab, modern Egypt's best known singer/composer and actor, died of heart failure on May 3, 1991 after a musical career spanning 74 years. In those decades he rose from a humble beginning to become the star of Egyptian song and a legend in the world of modern Arabic music and melody. Dubbed the 'musician of generations,' his music delighted for years people of all ages. During this long period, which began in his teens, he composed for himself and other leading Arab singers over 1,800 romantic and patriotic songs. His compositions for the late Umm Kalthoum, the greatest Arab songstress in history, gave both artists great fame.

Abdul Wahab fell in love with music and acting as a child, joining a drama troupe at the age of seven. Later, he began to sing at religious festivals. His family wanted him to study religion at Al-Azhar University, but he rebelled and continued pursuing his passion for music. He studied traditional Arab melodies at the Arab Music Club, now the Institute of Arab Music, and followed this by becoming familiar with Western music at the Bergran School in Cairo.

In the years to come, his remarkable musical memory and fine baritone voice helped him achieve great popularity and influence among the young in the world of music and song. For decades his improvisation on the Oud [lute], composing and singing, captivated millions of Arabs and won him great fame.

His early musical career coincided with the revival of Arabic music in the Middle East. Always thinking of new ways to enrich traditional song, he often combined the oriental quarter tone melodies with Western themes. Representing a generation in transition, he is responsible for far-reaching changes to Arabic music and is credited by art critics for giving modern Arabic songs their current musical form. His superimposition of a mixture of Western musical instruments on a foundation of Arabic melodies captured the hearts of millions and made him a much loved musical personality.

Besides his compositions and singing, he became a well-known actor. His first movie was produced in 1933. Until 1946 he starred in six other films which continue to be regularly screened on television throughout the Arab countries.

In the 1920s, Abdul Wahab became a close friend of the late well-known poet Ahmad Shawky and set that bard's verses to music. A poet laureate of the Egyptian King Farouk, Shawky helped Abdul Wahab socially and he became a traditional star at princely parties. In the ensuing years, his association with the opulent aided in his climb to stardom and earned him the title, `singer of princes.'

A soft-spoken, tall and bespectacled man, Abdul Wahab continued, in his songs, to exalt the wealthy until the Egyptian monarchy was overthrown in 1952. After the revolution which was led by young nationalist army officers, his view of life radically changed. His songs became more inspiring and patriotic and he produced some of his finest works. Among these were "The Eternal Nile," "Damascus," "Palestine," the musical scores for Egypt's national anthem and the national anthems of Oman and the United Arab Republic. His last song "Min Gheir Ley" [Without Asking Why], composed a few years before his death, is said to have salvaged the Egyptian song industry which had been in the doldrums.

Abdul Wahab's singing was extremely popular in the Arab world and, during his lifetime, most Arab countries acclaimed him and his works with decorations. When he died at the age of 90, after a period of poor health, he was honored by Egypt with a huge military funeral at the Rabia al-Adawiya Mosque in Cairo. A six-horse carriage procession, carrying his coffin, was led by the Prime and Foreign Ministers, followed by the Ministers of Defense, Interior and Culture. The train also included Arab ambassadors and scores of well-known actors, musicians and singers, many openly weeping as they walked behind the coffin.

Soldiers and police, hooking arms, formed a human shield around the procession which was proceeded by bearers of flower wreaths and the medals he had been awarded in his lifetime. Many of the people in the edging crowds had tears in their eyes as they rendered their last tribute to the father of modern Egyptian song.

The Egyptian -media coverage of the funeral was equal to that afforded a major world figure. After his death, the newspapers covered, for days, his works and the radio and television stations aired his songs and movies on a continuing basis. It was a fitting recognition for the father of modern Arabic song.

With the passing away of Abdul Wahab, the Arab world has lost the founder of contemporary Arabic music. For more than half a century his composing and singing -- he was still writing when he died - appealing to both young and old, made him a beloved figure. This is best reflected by a banner raised during the funeral procession which read: "Adieu to Egypt's fourth pyramid."

Habeeb Salloum, who lives in Canada, writes about Arab culture and arts.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4jyhv_mohamed-abdelwahab_music

Some biographical information about @abdel Wahab
from a TV  program by Simone Bitton for Arcadia
Films, written up and contributed by Mark Levinson.

Mohammed Abdel Wahab was the most prolific Arabic composer of his time, responsible for more than a thousand songs.  He personally sang hundreds.  For his orchestration of the Egyptian national anthem, Anwar Sadat awarded him the rank of general.

Abdel Wahab was born in 1907 in Cairo.  He made his first recording at the age of 13.  In 1924 he was taken under the wing of Ahmed Shawky, then known as the Prince of Poets.  Shawky saw to the furthering of Abdel Wahab's musical and literary education, so that in time if Shawky was the Prince of Poets, Abdel Wahab was known as the Singer to Princes and Kings.

In the late 1920s Abdel Wahab wrote traditional melodies, well suited to Shawky's texts.  But as European rule replaced Ottoman rule, Western influences affected local music.

In particular, stage musicals in Arabic incorporated Western elements.  In 1926, it fell to Abdel Wahab to complete a musical left unfinished by the late Said Darwish, a great composer of the previous generation.  The musical centered on Antony and Cleopatra, and Abdel Wahab himself played Antony to great acclaim.

After visiting Paris and familiarizing himself with French musical presentations, Abdel Wahab invented the Arabic film musical.  To a popular culture in which romantic love was commonly associated with suffering, Abdel Wahab introduced a romantic hero of light-hearted wit and urbane sophistication.  His films portrayed a Westernized social elite and featured music that broke from tradition.  Fellow composers noted that the music was simplistic compared with Abdel Wahab's previous work, and Abdel Wahab used lip-synching rather than the improvisation on which Arabic music had traditionally relied; but audiences loved it.  The film "The White Flower" was a phenomenon, breaking attendance records.  

Abdel Wahab enjoyed introducing new female singers to the public through his movies; many became stars, including the great Leila Mourad, who would go on to produce her own films.  Musically, his films continued controversial, as he began to feature large orchestras with admixtures of Western instruments.  Into his art, he hybridized Western song forms such as the tango, samba, and rhumba.

In the 1950s Abdel Wahab left film and concentrated on his last recordings as a singer, assuming a new and more serious musical style.  In the 1960s he stopped singing, but he continued composing for other singers.  It was in 1964 that after years of rivalry at the top of their profession Om Kalthoum released a record of his "Ente Omry" written for her to a text by the poet Ahmad Ramy.  Perhaps partly because of its timing-- coinciding with the flowering of Nasserism-- the recording became Egypt's all-time best-seller.  It was the song the young generation thought of when they thought of Om Kalthoum, though it was certainly Abdel Wahab, not Om Kalthoum, who spiced up the orchestration with an electric guitar.

For many years Abdel Wahab appeared very little in public, but his popularity never faded.  In 1988, at the age of 81, he made a surprise return to the studio, singing a new composition, and despite lyrics that seemed unacceptably iconoclastic to some radicals, the disk sold two million copies.

Mark L. Levinson
mark@sd.co.il
Sun, 9 Jul 95>