فريد الأطرش
Farid, (October 19, 1910 – December 26, 1974), was a Syrian/Egyptian composer,
singer, virtuoso Oud player. Having immigrated to Egypt at the age of nine with
his Family.
Al-Atrash was born in al-Suwayda,
in southern Syria to the Druze Al-Atrash family who fought the French colonial
army. His father a Syrian, married a Lebanese and later immigrated to Egypt
with his wife, Farid, Asmahan and Fouad. They immediately naturalized
as Egyptian citizens.
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| Farid, Asmahan & Fouad with Mother |
As a child and young boy, Al-Atrash
sang mostly in school events. He later studied music at the conservatory and
became an apprentice of the renowned composer Riyad as-Sunbaty. In the 1930s, Al-Atrash
began his professional singing career by working for privately owned Egyptian
radio stations. Eventually, he was hired as an Oud player for the national
radio station and later as a singer.
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| Farid and his sister Asmahan |
His sister, Asmahan, was a very talented
singer, she became one of the most popular female vocalists and cinema stars in
the late 1930s and early 1940s, In 1941, Asmahan and Farid starred in their first successful movie
Intisar al-Shabab The Triumph of Youth, in which Farid himself composed all the
music. Asmahan life was cut short due to an automobile accident in 1944.
Musical career
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| FARID AL-ATRASH |
Al-Atrash had a long and colourful music career lasting four decades. He composed musically diverse songs, and was
a highly regarded composer, singer and instrumentalist. Al-Atrash maintained
that although some of his music had western musical influence, he always stayed
true to Arab music principles. Although the majority of his compositions were
romantic love songs, he also composed several patriotic and religious songs.
One of Al-Atrash's most unusual
and distinguishable traits was his voice. High and mellow at the start of his
career, it evolved into a wider, deeper sound. A person not familiar with his
work would find it hard to believe the singer in "Ya Reitni Tir"
(1930s) and "Adnaytani Bil Hajr" (1960s) was the same singer. His
singing style was deeply passionate.
In many of his songs, and nearly
all of his concerts, Al-Atrash would sing a mawal, which is a slow voice
improvisation of a few poetic lines. These improvisations sometimes lasted up
to 15 minutes. The mawal was a favorite of his fans. Some of the most famous
songs include "Rabeeh" (Spring), "Awal Hamsa" (first
whisper), "Hekayat Gharami" (story of my love), "Albi Wa
Moftaho" (my heart and its key), "Gamil Gamal",
"Wayak", "Ya Zahratan Fi Khayali" (Flower of my
imagination), "Bisat Ir Rih" (flying carpet), "Ya Gamil Ya
Gamil", "Ya Habaybi Ya Ghaybeen", "Eish Anta", and
"saa fi korb el habib" (an hour in company of the beloved).
Al-Atrash starred in 31 Egyptian
musical films from 1941 to 1974. His last movie, Nagham Fi Hayati (Songs in my
life) was released after his death. All his films except the last two were
black and white. They ranged from comedies to dramas, or a combination. He
composed all the songs in his movies including the songs sung by other singers,
and instrumentals (usually belly dance routines). His earlier films would
include approximately ten songs, but overall the films would average about five
songs each. Some of Al-Atrash's well-known movies include Intisar al-Shabab (The
Triumph of Youth, 1941), Yom Bila Ghad, Ahd el-Hawa, and Lahn al-KholOud (
"Eternal Lyric", 1952).
Al-Atrash shaking hands with
Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser, February 1955
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| Samia Gamal and Farid Al-Atrash |
Quick success brought the young
man a lifestyle of nightclubs, love affairs, and gambling. Soon Farid was in
debt and found himself abandoned by his disapproving mother. During this
difficult period of his life, he also endured the death of his sister and
fellow performer Asmahan. Farid found comfort in a relationship with the belly
dancer Samia Gamal, for whom he was motivated to risk all he owned. In 1947 he
produced and co-starred in a movie with Samia directed by Henri Barakat; Habib
al-'Oumr ("The love of my life," 1947), which became a huge success.
After this came Afrita Hanem ("Madame la diablesse," 1949). Five
films later, the unmarried couple broke up. Farid continued to work with other
film stars in numerous successful movies in which he always had the romantic
lead role of a sad singer. He even repeatedly chose his character's name to be
"Wahid" meaning lonely.
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| Queen Nariman & Farid Al-Atrash |
Prior to the 1952 military coup
d'état against King Farouk I, Al-Atrash became friends with Farouk's consort,
Queen Nariman, a relationship that continued after the Queen's divorce and the
coup that cost Farouk his throne. The former queen's family did not accept Al-Atrash,
and the separation from Nariman sent the singer into a long depression, the
start of health problems that worsened from that point on until his death.
Farid Al-Atrash lived in a
building called “Dar El Hana” in Zamalek, a block away from the villa of Um
Kalthoum. He later build a hi-riser on the Nile in Giza and moved to the roof
garden.
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| Om Kalthoum & Farid Al-Atrash |
As Al-Atrash became older, he
reconsidered his opinion of marriage and proposed to Egyptian singer named
Shadia, but at the last minute he backed out. By now his health was poor, and
he feared that he would leave her a young widow. He often played out that
scenario and sang about it in his romance movies.
"He remained a bachelor
throughout his life and constructed himself with references to the authentic
post of Arab tradition and in a fairly idealized version of modernity. Tales of
his love affairs were wildly popular during his lifetime and were seemingly
merged with the lyrics of his love songs."
Al-Atrash suffered heart problems
throughout his last 30 years. In the last few years of his life, he became
physically thinner, and his singing voice became raspy as his sickness
intensified. Although he was struggling with his health, he continued to
produce movies and perform in concerts until his death.
Shortly after arriving from London
to Lebanon he was admitted to the Al Hayek hospital in Beirut. On Monday
December 24, 1974 the hospital doctors
told Al-Atrash that he could leave after a couple of days to go home, as they
noticed that Farid did not like his stay in the hospital and hated their food.
On December 26, 1974, Al-Atrash died in the hospital he never left.
Al-Atrash was buried in Cairo,
Egypt alongside his sisters and brother.
Over his lifetime, Al-Atrash
starred in 31 movies and recorded approximately 350 songs. He composed songs
for top Arab singers, foremost his own sister, Asmahan, as well as Wadih
El-Safi, Shadia, Warda, and Sabah. He is widely considered to be one of the
four 'greats' of Egyptian and Arabic music, along with Abdel Halim Hafez,
Mohammed Abdel Wahab and Oum Kalthoum. The Notable Egyptian instrumental
guitarist Omar Khorshid covered Farid Al-Atrash's songs in a tribute album.
Link to Original Song: Farid El Atrash: Gamil Gamal
