Aswat-Al-Fan: Classics

Khyam Allami looks at Classical Arabic music, and key figures at the heart of Arabic music since the mid-20th century.

1.Artist: Simon Shahīn (Simon Shaheen)
Title: Taqsim on Violin

Album: Turath
2.Artist: Fairūz (Fairouz)
Title: Sa’alunin Nās
Composed by: Ziād al-Raḥbāni

Lyrics by: Manṣūr al-Raḥbāni
Links: Lyrics in Arabic and English, Search on YouTube in Arabic
3.Artist: Ṣabāḥ Fakhrī (Sabah Fakhri)
Title: Qaddukal Mayyas (video on YouTube)

Extra information: Traditional (old song from Aleppo)
Links: Search on YouTube in Arabic
4.Artist: Muḥammad ‘Abdel Wahāb (Mohammed Abdelwahab)
Title: Balash Tebusnī

Composed by: Muḥammad ‘Abdel Wahāb
Lyrics by: Muḥammad ‘Ali Aḥmad
5.Artist: ‘Abdel Ḥalim Ḥāfedh (Abdelhalim Hafez)
Title: Nebtedi Mnein il-Hikaya (excerpt)

Composed by: Muḥammad ‘Abdel Wahāb
Lyrics by: Muḥammad Ḥamza
Links: http://www.7alim.com, Search on YouTube in Arabic
6.Artist: Nadhem Al-Ghazālī (Nathem al-Gazali)

Title: Ayya Shai’in Fil Eid (video on YouTube)
Poem by: Īlīyā Abu Mādhī
Links: Search on YouTube in Arabic
7.Artist: Munir Bashir + Nūnā al-Hanā (Munir Bashir/Bachir + Nouna el-Hana)

Title: Wadda‘a al-Ṣabra
Album: Quartet
Composed by: Munir Bashir
Poem by: ‘Umar al-Khayyām
Extra information: Poetry is from the Rubā‘īyāt of ‘Umar al-Khayyām, as translated into Arabic by Aḥmad al-Ṣāfi al-Najafī

8.Artist: Um Kulthūm (See top of page)
Title: Gaddeti Ḥubbak Leih (excerpt)
Composed by: Riyādh al-Ṣunbati
Lyrics by: Aḥmad Rāmi
Links: Search on YouTube in Arabic

9.Artist: Wadī‘ al-Ṣāfī (Wadi Essafi)
Title: Ah Ya Ibni
Music and Lyrics by: Wadī‘ al-Ṣāfī
Extra information: Taken from the theater play “Ṭawāḥīn al-Layl” (Mills of the Night)