Farid al-Atrash

Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش; April 21 1917 – December 26, 1974), also written Farid El-Atrache, was a Syrian-Egyptian singer, composer, and actor.

Having immigrated to Egypt at the age of only nine years old with his mother and siblings, he studied there under numerous respected musicians.

Al-Atrash embarked on a highly successful career spanning more than four decades—recording 500 songs and starring in 31 movies.

Sometimes referred to as "malek al-oud", he is one of the most important figures of 20th- century Arab music.

Al-Atrash was born in 1917, in Al-Qurayya, 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 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.

His sister, Asmahan, was also a talented singer, and for a while they worked together.

In 1941, they starred in their first successful movie Intisar a l-Shabab (انتصار الشباب – The Triumph of Youth, 1941), in which Farid himself composed all the music.

Farid and his sister Amal, along with their brother Fouad, belonged to the religious minority Druze clan of their parents, Princess Alia and Prince Fahd al-Atrash.

Al-Atrash starred in 31 Egyptian musical films from 1941 to 1974.

His last movie, Nagham Fi Hayati (نغم في حياتي, 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 (انتصار الشباب – The Triumph of Youth, 1941), Yom Bila Ghad, Ahd el-Hawa, and Lahn al-Kholoud (لحن الخلود – "Eternal Tune", 1952), Resala min Imraa Maghoola (رسالة من امرأة مجهولة – Letter from an Unknown Woman, 1962) produced by Salah Zulfikar Films owned by his close friend Salah Zulfikar and directed by Salah Abu Seif.

He 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.

Farid is better known than Asmahan because her career was interrupted by her death in an accident in 1944.

Yet he was initially overshadowed by his sister's talent and popularity.

With maturity and the forging of a successful performance formula, Farid became famous in his own right.

Even today, the reference to the given name "Farid" in the context of Arabic music or popular culture is immediately understood to denote al-Atrash himself.

Al-Atrash had a long and colorful 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.

In many of his songs, and nearly all of his concerts, al-Atrash would sing a mawal, which is a local folk Egyptian 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 Mouftaho" (my heart and its key), "Gamil Gamal", "Wayak", "Ya Zahratan Fi Khayali" (يا زهرة في خيالي – "Flower of my imagination), "Bisat Ir Rih" (flying carpet), "Ya Gamil Ya Gamil", "Ya Habaybi Ya Ghaybeen", "Eish Anta", and "sa3a bi 2orb el habib" (an hour in company of the beloved).

(Asmar 1998) His sister, Asmahan, evidenced similar musical talent in her teens, becoming one of the most popular female vocalists and cinema stars in the late 1930s and early 1940s.