Music in my life
Back in the States, the weather is absolutely gorgeous outside… spring, sunny, warm, all the plants are booming suddenly… this weather brings memories of university, of us lying on the sun everyday between lectures and getting in trouble everyday for it, because ladies don’t lie down like ‘daughters of the streets’ as Mr. Harb used to say.
I have been listening to Arabic music lately, and as a matter of fact I have been reintroduced to the video clips. And on the one hand I am very amused by the audacity displayed there, people are simply revolting against the rigid social rules of the 7aram and 3eib that govern our lives in the Middle East and that hold us all to higher standards. On the other hand I am disappointed from the quality of this Arabic music. One of my English friends saw the channel and was like “why do you attack our way of life? This is low quality porno” which is not the issue, the issue is in the low quality, it is very commercial and not artistic at all, and some of the video clips are just crap!… why is the consensus that people in the Middle East don’t appreciate art? that we appreciate this crap because this would sell and real art won’t?!
I have recently realized that my life has been very unmusical… in our school there was never any music class, except when we were in high school when they brought this doll, who was more interested in her makeup and nails than anything else. She would clap her hands hysterically in an incomprehensible manner screaming “tafa tifi tafi tfu tfu”, she did not last one year! And the whole tafatifi tfu tfu failed!
Recently I have been introduced to music; just seeing the number of records one of friends have was very shocking! it was a like a sad realization that I have missed out on something so great in my life. I have been discovering that I really like hip-hop, despite the ear aches that took place after that evening! And that I love Jazz and I actually enjoy Bach, and that my favorite piece is called cucu by someone called Daquin! don’t ask me I have no idea but what really surprised me is that have a nice soprano voice and I was advised to join some amateur group, who don’t require the ability to read the notes, because unfortunately music notes are the closest thing to Chinese for me…. This way I can learn how to sing properly and maybe I could perform with this illusive group… I really liked the idea, when I last sang with my friend Alan; I understood what it means to actually feel high! It was just an electrifying feeling! The satisfaction I felt almost beat running one of my youth projects!
Ok, this was another all over the map blog…. But I am in an all over the map mood…. I will run now to back in the sun… it is beautiful outside to spend the day infront of the computer….
I know the teacher, her name is maysoon?! she was really majnouneh!shoo zaman 3anha!
Cucu is a very nice piece. very fast and very positive.
Great, i sing in a choir in Amman, we are looking for female singers, why dont you come so we can check if we could be the illusive group, you dont need to read the notes, no problem at all.
its so nice that u finally got teh chance to know what kinda music u like or that u knew that u even like music…but maybe the reason u never appreciated arabic music was that u never LISTENED to real arabic music we have such a great heritage of arabic music…its so very fine that you like non-oriental style but what we have is just great and built on great base too despite all the “porn” video clips nowadays…check a bit oldies or even some singers now have great modernized arabic things
yeah i know, i am glad you remember her
welcome back, have not seen you in a while. I love cucu, positive is the right description
whatever
please give me examples…, i was never musical, i recently developped appreciation to um kalthoum, i love few songs for abd il haleem and i really like kazim il saher, Of course fairuz… but i want realy modern Arabic music… would appreciate a tip!
Music … I cannot live without music
I sing .. have done so ever since I was a little girl … oriental music is my thing and I do love it .. some of the new singers are quite good even with the little western style they introduce to their songs .. try listening to Fadl Shaker, Mohammed Abdo, Asalah, even Nancy and Elissa have their styles and lovely lovely voices
Of course nothing measures up to Om Kolthoum, Abdel Wahhab, Abdel Halim, Farid El Atrash, Wardah … those were the good old days indeed
One more thing .. this is a good site for MP3 downloads .. http://www.mazikana.com/
try it
Enjoy
How could I forget Majdah El Roumy??? She is the best
well definitely we are not speaking fo um khalthoum or abdul halim or um khalthum cause no one would argue about them there are some amazing work for them ..have you ever tried melhem barakat? he is such a great musician his music is modern and yet very fine ..there is the great muahmmad muneer the egyptian-sudany singer he is a very spirutual guy he even has one cassete only for songs that has to do with “God” for any religion and he is so articulate and so passionate …there is also faris karam he has such a strong voice!and wonderful lyrics most of the time…julia butrus…amazing lady…ziad ra7bany has great work ..elias ra7bany marcel khalifeh …ooh i think i wrote too much:) but definitley i could go on ….
thank you very much, i will look these musicians up. I am ashamed to say i dont know half of them, as i said music was not a very important part of my life ( shameful, red face)
Khalidah, thank you for your comments, i am very grateful for the site, i will start downloading the songs immediately… I really like some of Majida’s work, she is good.
Dear Lady ,music to me is an acquired taste ,then it becomes something of a tinctured love to heritage and all kinds of music that tickles the heart ,being ethnic ,Roc or Regue .
But for me my heritage started from my early introduction of our Arabic Master SHAYKH SAYYID DARWÎSH ,I compiled the synopsis below for you to seed the interest in your inquisitive mind ,and let your curiosity drive you to learn more about the Masters songs and rhythms that leads our emotions tell now ,without us knowing ,dear lady ,do me and your self a favour and give it a chance and find to your self ,I wish you well as much as I mean it to to those I care for .
SHAYKH SAYYID DARWÎSH
(1892-1923)
Sayyid Darwîsh’s life is one of those lightning trajectories in the history of music, the memory and the influence of which go much beyond the actual frame of a musical production. He was to die at the dawn of a striking career, almost ignored by the musical milieu in his lifetime and mystified after his death.
. Sayyid Darwîsh has become an icon symbolizing Progress. Modernity, and the shift from “Oriental music”, elites music to populous “Egyptian music”, the expression of a people-s soul and their nationalist demands. The true dimension of Sayyid Darwîsh’s works, the works of an original and experimental artist.
Sayyid Darwîsh was born in the popular quarter of Kôm ed-dikka in Alexandria. Egypt, and trained in his youth to be a munshid (cantor). He used to work as a bricklayer in order to support his family, and his legend has it that the manager of a theatrical troupe overheard him singing for his fellows and hired him on the spot. While touring in Syria, he had the opportunity to gain a musical education, short of finding success. He returned to Egypt before the outburst of the Great War, and won limited recognition by singing in the cafés and on various stages the repertoire of the great composers of the 19th Century, to which he added adwâr and muviashshahât of his own. In spite of the cleverness of his compositions, he wasn’t to find public consecration, disadvantaged by his mediocre voice in comparison with such stars of his time as Sâlih ‘Abd al-Hayy or Zakî Murâd.
By 1912 his music and songs were achieving great success, which encouraged him to form a musical troupe of his own, bearing his name and comprising the most celebrated Egyptian musicians of the time.
He then visited Italy where he studied different musical instruments and the rules of western music.
1918 and After failures in cafés singing , he decided to follow the path of Shaykh Salama Higâzî. the pioneer of Arabic lyrics theater ,. He settled in Cairo and got acquainted with the main companies, particularly Nagîb al-Rîhanî’s (1891-1949), for whom he composed seven operettas. This gifted comedian had invented, with the playwright and poet Badî’ Khayrî, the laughable character of Kish Kish Bey, a rich provincial mayor squandering his fortune in Cairo with ill-reputed women… The apparition of social matters and the allusions to the political situation of colonial Egypt (the 1919 “revolution”) were to boost the success of the trio’s operettas, such as “al-’Ashara al-Tayyiba” (The Ten of Diamonds, 1920) a nationalistic adaptation of ‘Blubeard”. Sayyid Darvîsh also worked for Rihânî’s rival troupe, ‘Alî al-Kassâr’s, and eventually collaborated with the Queen of Stages, singer and actress Munîra al-Mahdiyya (1884-1965), for whom he composed comical operettas such as “Kollaha yomên” (It will just take two days, 1920) and started an opera, “Cleopatra and Mark-Anthony”, which was to be played in 1927 with Muhammad ‘Abd al-Wahhâb in the leading role. In the early twenties, all the companies used to seek his help. He even decided to start his own company, acting at last on stage in a lead part . His two creations “Shahwazâd’ and “al-Barûka”, 1921) weren’t as successful as planned, and he was forced to compose again for other companies from 1922 until his premature death on September 15th, 1923.
Darwîsh’s stage production is often clearly westernized: the traditional takht is replaced by an European ensemble, conducted by il Signore Casio. Darwîsh’s maestro. Most of his operetta tunes use musical modes compatible with the piano, even if some vocal sections use other intervals, and the singing techniques employed in those compositions reveal a fascination for Italian opera, naively imitated in a cascade of oriental melismas. The light ditties of the comical plays are, from d modern point of view, much more interesting than the great opera-style arias. A number of those light melodies originally composed for al-Rihânî or al-Kassâr are now part of the Egyptian folklore. Such songs as “Salma ya Salâma”, “Zurûni koll-e sana marra” or EI helwa di qâmet te’gen” are known by all Middle- Easterners and have been sung by modern singers, as the Lebanese Fayrûz or Syrian Sabâh Fakhrî, in reorchestrated versions. Aside from this light production, Sayyid Darwîsh didn’t neglect the learned repertoire, he composed about twenty muwashshahât, often played by modern conservatories and sung by Fayrûz. But his major contribution to the turn-of-the-century learned music is better understood through the ten adwâr (long metric composition in colloquial arabic) he composed until his death. He composed 26 musicals for the stage; the most renowned of which are “Sheherezade”, “Al Barouka” and “Al Ashara AI Tayeba”. He also composed about 260 songs.
Darwish was an innovator of Arabic music and songs. He dealt with broad and wide-ranging topics in his songs, from the national and the passionate, to the social and the sarcastic.
While his short lived life was full of innovations and creativity ,Darwish lived his life to the fullest . While he liberated Arabic music from its conventional forms. He believed that music depicted and expressed human feelings and aspirations and was not merely for entertainment. His music was like the painting of a brilliant artist ,to date conveys a vivid and expressive image and sound to the present and for many years to come people will live to enjoy such a rich heritage.
Dear Levant,
Thanks a bunch for your very informative comment
I feel that i learnt something i did not know before and this is always a plus in my dictionary. I kow of Sheikh Darwish, unfortunately, I am not sure if he is the person i am thinking about, I will try to confirm my thoughts. Meanwhile, I would like you to know that i am saddened by all the mystery surrounding your identity.
Dear Lady ,I have a habit to pick the heading on your post and stream line on it ,yet I come back and read you through your stream line of what you write ,I am impressed of your apreciacion as favorite piece called cucu by “Daquin”According to The New Penguin Dictionary of Music, Louis Claude Daquin [also spelt d'Acquin] was a French composer of harpsichord pieces (including “The Cuckoo”), church music, etc.; organist from boyhood. became organist at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris in 1755). Daquin obtained such success as an improviser that the police were sometimes called in to maintain order in the streets of Paris on the nights he performed,no wonder you pick the elite in public .I dont mean to burden you with tip top after your input of an idea .for further way of enjoying his works you can order/ Find more recordings for Louis-Claude Daquin at Amazon.com
Enjoy your discovery ,you are unlike me ,you know what you like by discovering it ,in my case when it comes at art,music and other forms ,I discover after a recomendation from a close freind that I enjoy his company and trust his taste .I can learn from you .
you still did not answer my question
My very dear lady ,I cant afford ,let because you sadness it is never my style to put a Dame in distress ,you need not worry I will shed light to what you missed on the “mystery surrounding my identity”you know you made me happy I never thought you care ,I am an Arab in Diaspora (of a Palestinian orgion) proud but hurt and disappointed ,my home is where I find love ,and my temple is where i find a book ,currently I live in Morocco with my better half my sole mate a wife for eternity we have nothing in common but we complement one another and the greatest part of free time is spend alone at home enjoying taking reading and writing ,my wife is the green thumb thats why we have a lovely garden .
I am a high school drop out ,very fortunate with luck and good people who believed in me more than I believed in my self , thanks to my wife we were locating and moving east and west for the duration of our colorful marriage and job .For the littele we made, now that we are approaching the colored “twilights” of our lives ,we enjoy other people as much ,but not to let them impose ,we exchange Ideas but such never are put to arguments or debate !! I am no body to judge or preach ,I may be if not your older than your father age 67yrs old ,am a very ordinary person you can pass me unnoticed .The great things in my life ,my high school drop out made me read and read and go on reading to learn for my self and keep on line with the second generations to eliminate any generation gapes , i feel better than some of the university stagnantes student .The second through the 42 years of hard work I enjoyed each and every moment of it as I benefited materially and morally and now when I review my life video stance I only see colors no blacks or greys .the Third my wife and I we not only have a successful son at work and at letters who thanks to his marriage we are the proud Grand Parents of thee grand sons moreover we have a daughter in low God gave us to praise him as bounty I will kill her splendor, if I tell how happy to have her as an a daughter in low she is the type God forbids in case she needs an organ I will be the one to donate I will give with great happiness .You see my dear lady my identity is so ordinary that dose not require elaboration .You need to know more all what you need to do is ask .My greatest of feelings I have and enjoy I am Alive ,I dont live .
I sincerely wish you to attain what you really want and need without having to sacrifice something in return.
I dont know at all .but but I perceive you from you post writers ,in fact I at times I visit you in my reverie.
Sorry if you thought i dont care. Of course i do. As an Arab woman I have to be very strong when it comes to emotions, and caring is one of these emotions. We have to have an iron mask to be able to survive. Thank you very much for the information you provided, you were very kind… you are not at all what i imagined you to be
here goes my theory about me being perceptive. I do enjoy your wit and intelligence… I am not sure you really mean it, I am after all driven by curiosity and i will have many questions for you… here is one, why me?
My dear Lady ,your question why me ? it is more than a cup full of a question!!!! first thank you for caring not only for me but more over for the act of care ,it is seldom we come
across care ,as what care means it is not a charity as much a watchful attention When Someone Hugs You Never Be The First To Let Go,I make sure that I am never the first one to let go when I hug a friend.
To answer you I dont know you in person or about you ,I meet you through your blog and enjoyed your post as simple and inquisitive by not at all being pretentious to know it all ,the most I like in you ,you do in some way insert very intelligent IDIOMS that shine as a balloon ,yet rarely your readers pick ,such in case ” Louis Claude Daquin as French composer who wrote “The Cuckoo”),to me it was a small beacon from you that you learned something new such ignite me by nature to comment’s on so forth though at times I perceive you an elite !!!trotting east and west ,why not as long as you share it innocently .To answer in a short you are at all times searching for new knowledge ,as scattered as may be ,you interests me ,dear lady keep what makes you tick and tap for your self indulgence .Dear lady did I satisfy your why me ?
I wish I was your neighbor ,to teach you a lot of bets and pieces of sweet nothing ,but delicious lot .Now I wait for your next post ,or comment .
By the way ,It was I who wrote you how we became Arabs .and few more .My turn you said (you are not at all what i imagined you to be) how did you imagined me ?
I would not want to disappoint you, but can you have faith in me if i dont answer you now?