Egypt on Music Theory Print

Aziz El-Shawan

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Aziz El-Shawan (born Cairo, May 6, 1916; died Cairo, May 14, 1993) was one of the most prominent Egyptian composers of the twentieth century. Biography He completed his primary and secondary education at the St. Joseph – La Salle College in Khoronfish, Cairo where he also received a Higher Diploma in Commercial Studies. He studied the violin privately with the German Joseph von Aubervon, a student of Jan Kubelick, and joined the school’s choir and band where he played the clarinet and French horn. His violin teacher obtained a scholarship for him to study at the Berlin Conservatory, however, his father objected to his interest in pursuing a musical career. An accident disabled one of the fingers of his left hand, obliging him to give up his dream of being a virtuoso violinist. He then studied piano, theory, harmony, composition and orchestration with the Italian Menato and the Russian Orlovitsky who were part of a community of European musicians and music teachers who lived and worked in cosmopolitan Cairo. El-Shawan held several administrative positions, most importantly at the Philips International Company where he founded a record production department. He was director of the So

Demetrio Stratos

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Efstratios Dimitriou (; 22 April 1945 – 13 June 1979), known professionally as Demetrio Stratos, was a Greek-Italian vocalist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music researcher, best known as the co-founder, frontman and lead singer of the Italian progressive rock band Area – International POPular Group. Born and raised in Alexandria, Egypt, of Greek parents, he studied piano and accordion at the “National Conservatoire”. In 1957 he was sent to Nicosia, Cyprus, and, at the age of 17, moved to Milan, Italy, to attend the Politecnico di Milano University at the Architecture Faculty, where he formed his first musical group. In 1967, Demetrio Stratos joined the Italian beat band I Ribelli, and in 1972, founded Area. Stratos recorded many records, and toured festivals in Italy, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Netherlands, Cuba, and the United States with Area, as well as a solo artist and in collaboration with other artists. He worked with Mogol, Lucio Battisti, Gianni Sassi, Gianni Emilio Simonetti, Juan Hidalgo, Walter Marchetti, John Cage, Tran Quang Hai, Merce Cunningham, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, Grete Sultan, Paul Zukofsky, Nanni Balestrini, Claude Royet-Journoud, and Antonio

Farid al-Atrash

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Farid al-Atrash (; October 19, 1910 – December 26, 1974), also spelled Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian singer, oudist, composer, and actor. Although born in Syria, he immigrated to Egypt at the age of nine with his mother and siblings, where he eventually became one of the most noted figures in 20th-century Arabic music. Al-Atrash embarked on a highly successful career spanning more than four decades, recording 500 songs and starring in 31 movies. He is also widely regarded for his virtuosity on the Arabic oud, and has sometimes been given the epithet “King of the Oud” (“Malek al-Oud”). in southern Syria to the Druze princely al-Atrash family who fought the French colonial army. His father was Syrian and his mother was Lebanese. As a young child, al-Atrash emigrated with his mother and siblings to Egypt, escaping the French occupation. Later, they were naturalized by the Egyptian government as citizens. Farid’s mother sang and played the Oud, which spurred his musical interest at an early age. As a child and young adult, al-Atrash sang within school events. He studied at Egypt’s music conservatory and became an apprentice of the famous Egyptian composer Riad Al Sunbati. In

Gamal Abdel-Rahim

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Gamal Abdel-Rahim ( ) (November 25, 1924 – November 23, 1988) was a distinguished Egyptian classical music composer and composition professor. Life and career Abdel-Rahim was born in Cairo to a musical father, and began playing the piano at an early age. His early musical studies were supported by the Music Society of the Faculty of Arts of Cairo University (then called Fuad I University), graduating with a degree in history. In 1950 he began university studies in musicology at the Musikhochschule of Heidelberg in West Germany, deciding on a career as a composer. From 1952 to 1957 he studied composition with Harald Genzmer (a pupil of Paul Hindemith) at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg. In 1959, Abdel-Rahim was appointed to teach theory and harmony at the newly opened Cairo Conservatory of Music. He was later appointed head of the composition department there (the first of its kind in the Arab world), which he founded in 1971. Abdel-Rahim was quite influential among Egyptian composers of the next generation, as the majority of them studied with him during his time at the Cairo Conservatory. Abdel-Rahim’s style fuses traditional Egyptian musical elements with contemporary European

Halim El-Dabh

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Halim Abdul Messieh El-Dabh (, Ḥalīm ʻAbd al-Masīḥ al-Ḍabʻ; 4 March 1921 – 2 September 2017) was an Egyptian-American composer, musician, ethnomusicologist, and educator, who had a career spanning six decades. He is particularly known as an early pioneer of electronic music. In 1944 he composed one of the earliest known works of tape music, or musique concrète. From the late 1950s to early 1960s he produced influential work at the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. Early life El-Dabh was born and grew up in Sakakini, Cairo, Egypt, a member of a large and affluent Coptic Christian family that had earlier emigrated from Abutig in the Upper Egyptian province of Asyut. The family name means “the hyena” and is not uncommon in Egypt. In 1932 the family relocated to the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis. Following his father’s profession of agriculture, he graduated from Fuad I University in 1945 with a degree in agricultural engineering, while also informally studying, performing, and composing music. Although his main income was derived from his job as an agricultural consultant, he achieved recognition in Egypt from the mid- to late 1940s for his innovative compositions and piano tec

Hasan Rashid

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Hasan Ahmad Rashid (: also spelled Hassan Rasheed; July 10, 1896 – May 25, 1969) was an Egyptian composer and operatic baritone. He was part of Egypt’s first generation of classical composers. Biography As a youth, Rashid studied violin and singing in Cairo. He went to England in 1914 to pursue studies in agriculture at Durham University. While there, he continued his studies in violin, composition, and singing, occasionally performing in University concerts as a violinist and a baritone. He returned to Cairo in 1918 where he began to compose vocal music to Arabic texts. He was part of that nation’s first generation of composers to produce classical music. Rashid’s work culminated in his sole opera Masra’ Antonio (Antony’s Death), which has an Arabic text, based on the first part of Ahmed Shawqi’s play Cleopatra’s Death. The work was influenced by Italian opera, yet Rashid’s melodic invention is not without originality. It is the first opera to be composed by an Egyptian. Parts of the work were produced in 1942, but a full staging was not mounted until 1973 by the Egyptian Opera Troupe at the Cairo Opera House. However, the Egyptian public found it difficult to accept the conventio

Jani Christou

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Jani Christou (, Giánnīs Chrī́stou; 8 or 9 January 1926 – 8 January 1970) was a Greek composer. Biography There is some disagreement about Christou’s birth, the date of which is given by some authorities as 8 January; while others state 9 January. Most sources agree that he was born in Heliopolis, Egypt, though one states he was born in Alexandria, and it has recently been reported that a birth certificate has been found stating that the composer was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, though this certificate is suspected of being a forgery. His parents were Eleutherios Christou, a Greek industrialist and chocolate manufacturer, and Lilika Tavernari, of Cypriot origin. He was educated at the English School in Alexandria and he took his first piano lessons from various teachers and from the important Greek pianist Gina Bachauer. In 1948 he gained an MA in philosophy after having studied with Ludwig Wittgenstein and Bertrand Russell in King’s College, Cambridge. During that time he also studied music with Hans Redlich (then living at Letchworth) and in 1949 travelled to Rome to study orchestration with Angelo Francesco Lavagnino. He briefly attended lectures by Carl Jung in Zurich. In 1951 he r

Khaled Al Kammar

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Khaled Al Kammar (born May 14, 1990) is an Egyptian composer noted for his scores for film and TV. He is considered one of the most prominent composers of his generation in Egypt, having won several local and international awards for his work on projects such as Qabeel, Sahib El Maqam, and Netflix’s first Egyptian production, the series Paranormal. Early life Khaled showed a significant interest in music from a young age, despite being raised in an academic family with no artistic background. He taught himself the basics of music and studied mechatronics engineering at the German University in Cairo to satisfy his family’s wishes. After graduating, he began his career in film scoring, working at Hany Adel’s studio from 2012 to 2015. During this period, he composed music for films like Assem and Décor, among others. He also gained experience by assisting leading Egyptian composers such as Hesham Nazih on The Originals and Layali Eugenie, as well as Khaled Hammad on Awalem Khafeya. Education In 2015, Khaled received a scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree in Composition for the Screen at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. He graduated with distinction in 2016, ranki

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah (; born 1962) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music and educator. He is a member of Egypt’s third generation of classical composers. Biography Abdelfattah was born in Giza. He graduated with a B.A. degree from the College of Applied Arts of Helwan University, Orman campus in Egypt and went on to attain second and third B.A. degrees from the Faculty of Composition and Department of Ear Training (Solfege) at the same year 1986, from the Cairo Conservatoire, with “excellent honors”. In Egypt he studied composition under Gamal Abdel-Rahim, music history under Samha El-Kholy, harmony under Awatef Abdel Karim, counterpoint under Laiela El-Saiyad, instrumentation under Gihad Dawoud, orchestration under Youssef Elsisi, score reading under Gamal Salama, Schenkerian analysis under Ahmed El-Saedi, music education under Ikram Matter and solfege under Aiyda Danial. Abdelfattah was appointed to the faculty at Cairo Conservatoire in 1987, and he later obtained his M.A. degree, with his thesis entitled “Dodecaphony and Maqamat” from the Academy of Arts in Cairo in 1990, supervised by Awatef Abdel Karim. Abdelfattah is a multidisciplinary artist who

Mohamed El Qasabgi

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mohamed el-Qasabgi (; pronounced in local Egyptian dialect as Mohamed el-Asabgi; 15 April 1892 in Cairo – 25 March 1966) was an Egyptian musician and composer, and is regarded as one of the leading Egyptian composers in the 20th century. Most of his credits went to Umm Kulthum, Asmahan, and Layla Murad who sang most of his great works and scores. Until today, most critics classify Mohamed El Qasabgi as the master of the oud due to his great abilities and skills which he had during his time. In most of his tunes, there is a real sensation of the pure Oriental spirit, mixed with European musical techniques and taste. This was mostly seen in songs like Ya Toyour, Raa’ El Habeeb, Ana Albi Daleeli. In the above-mentioned songs and many others, he was widely recognized by most musicians and critics at that time as the leader of development of Oriental music, and mixing it with newest musical techniques and influences brought in from Western classical traditions of his time. Important dates * 1892 Birth of El Qasabgi. * 1917 Actual journey begins. * 1920 Mohamed El Qasabgi composes songs for great singers of that time, including the legendary Mounira El Mahdeya. * 1920 through 1923 The le

Mohammed Abdel Wahab

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mohammed Abdel Wahab (), ; 13 March 1902 – 4 May 1991), was an Egyptian singer and actor best known for his romantic and Egyptian patriotic songs. He was known for his Egyptian nationalist and Arab nationalist and revolutionary songs like “O Egypt, Happiness Is Here”, “The Call of Duty”, “The Greatest Homeland”, “The Rising Generation”, “Egypt Called Us and We Have Answered”, “Tell Egypt”, “Patriotism Is My Obligation”, “Voice of the Masses”, “O Breeze of Freedom”, and “Arms from My Country”. He also composed the national anthem of Libya, which was adopted from 1951 to 1969, and again since 2011. in a neighborhood called Bab El-Sheriyah, where there is now a statue of him. He began his singing career at an early age and made his first public performances at age seven at local productions. He was 13 when he made his first recording. Mohamed Abdel Wahab was a very close friend to compatriot singer Abdel Halim Hafez. Film career In 1933, Abdel Wahab began composing his own style of Egyptian film musical after visiting Paris and familiarizing himself with French musical film. He introduced a lighthearted genre of musical film to Egyptian culture eventually composing eight musical comed

Rageh Daoud

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Rageh Sami Daoud (; born November 23, 1954; first name also spelled Ragueh and last name also spelled Dawood) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music. He is a member of that nation’s third generation of such composers. He has composed for piano, voice, and orchestra, and has written a number of film scores. Life and career Rageh Daoud was born in Cairo. He began his studies at the Cairo Conservatoire at the age of nine, later studying composition there with Gamal Abdel-Rahim, graduating in 1977. He also studied piano with Ettore Puglisi. While continuing his piano studies with him, he attended the composition class which the late Gamal Abdel-Rahim had founded at the Conservatoire, where he studied with him composition, the theory of traditional Arab modes and contemporary composition. In 1977 he obtained his diploma in musical composition with honors. He was appointed assistant at the Composition Dept. of the Conservatoire in 1978. In 1981 he got a scholarship to pursue post graduate studies in composition at the Vienna Music Academy, where he studied with Prof. T. Christian David and the British Frances Burt. In 1987, Daoud obtained his graduate diploma, and later

Yusef Greiss

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Yusef Greiss (; (December 13, 1899 – April 7, 1961) was an Egyptian composer of classical music, part of that nation’s first generation of such composers. Greiss was of Coptic heritage. He composed orchestral works and chamber music. His patriotic work for orchestra entitled Masr (1932) is considered the first orchestral piece composed by an Egyptian. As of 2008, the Egyptian musicologist Haig Avakian is editing and preparing Greiss’s complete works for publication. Performance Solo violin and piano compositions are major parts in Greise’s compositions. He wrote 23 solo piano compositions, 14 solo violin three solo flute, six lyrical compositions with piano, and 10 orchestra compositions. Works First: Solo piano compositions * The Sudanese, 1932 * Nile Boatman, 1932 * La Galerien, 1932 * Good Luck, 1932 * A Boat Burns, 1932 * How Are You, 1932 * Truth, 1932 * Little Palestinian, 1932 * Happiness, 1932 * A Night in the Boat, 1945 Second: Solo violin compositions * The Bedouin No. 1931 of 1932 * The Egyptian Village, No. 22 of 1932 * Dance of the Palm Valley * Souvenir, No. 25 of 1932. * Son of the Valley, 1943 * Bedouin Singing, 1944 * Company of the Nile, 1944 * Desert Songs, 1944