Download her songs
Guindi
Veteran Egyptian
Journalist
REPLAY:
sweet tunes,
Making listeners
sway in rapture,
Sending the
daffodil and the
jasmine into a
swing,
Enticing the
caravans to echo
me as they trek
through the
desert."
today, an extraordinary woman, Umm
Kulthoum -- or simply Al-Sitt (the Lady), as
she was called -- passed away.
Today, we tell her amazing, incomparable
story, in an attempt to understand why, 25
years later, it's as if she had never left us. The
story of this absence, so intangible and yet so
vital, is told here through interviews with those
who were closest to her, a visit to the small
village where she was born and raised, and an
examination of the many ways in which her
legend has not only lived on, but become
stronger. Umm Kulthoum's voice is only one
part of this glorious story. It is her entire being
that still fills everyone's heart
she made during a 50-year singing career that entranced Egypt and the entire
Arab world. They are a fitting description, if not an understatement, of the
impact she had on her listeners.
Nile Delta villages to become the queen of Arab song and rub shoulders
with heads of state, first ladies and princes, died 25 years ago today. She
came back to us in all her glory as we watched a recent 37-episode
television series chronicling her life in the context of the artistic, political
and social conditions prevailing in the better part of the 20th century.
songs painted on the trunk of a taxi, or hear her unmistakable voice
coming from a coffee shop radio, or find a boy chanting a line from one of
the poems she sang.
whose book was the main source for the TV series. "She is a fragrant memory that never loses its perfume."
Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, Egypt's top composer, who also sang in his early years, said Umm Kulthoum's voice had
a royal ring that inspired "awe and respect". When she sings, he said, "you feel you are in the presence of an
emperor... Her voice combined power, emotion and sensitivity." Music experts said Umm Kulthoum's voice could
sweep through two octaves, up and down the musical scale with perfect ease, clarity and articulation.
From 1947 to 1972, when she ended her public performances, I regularly attended her monthly concerts organised
by Radio Cairo. I did not miss even the private concerts she sometimes gave in provincial centres. This devotion had
its roots in my childhood. As a primary school pupil in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, I used to sit in bed listening,
on the night of the first Thursday of every month, as Radio Cairo broadcast her concerts. My mother and father used
to entertain friends to dinner before clustering round the radio set for the ritual, which bordered on the religious. I
was not allowed to join because I was a child.
my initiation into a magic world -- was at the American University's Ewart Memorial Hall. After the concert ended in
the small hours of the morning, I walked home -- a distance of some five kilometres -- almost in a trance as I
'chewed the cud'. I did not take a taxi because I wanted to absorb privately and peacefully what I had sampled on
that memorable night.
same seat wherever she sang -- at the Ezbekiya Theatre until the mid-'60s and at the Qasr Al-Nil cinema afterwards.
Throughout those 25 years, I paid LE2 for my seat in the front stalls. Upon Umm Kulthoum's insistence, ticket prices
were never increased. Some of her masterpieces were presented during that period, including 10 compositions by
Abdel-Wahab in the last eight years of her career.
The majority were in colloquial Arabic; some were in classical Arabic, written by famous poets. Umm Kulthoum was
extremely selective in the choice of verses and frequently had the authors change words if their resonance for her was
not perfect.
interviewed the two giants at Umm Kulthoum's villa in Zamalek. That song was dubbed "the summit encounter" and
had come about at the urging of President Gamal Abdel-Nasser. The president's eagerness to see the two artists join
in a single work was vindicated by the resounding success of Enta Omri. For more than four decades of her career,
Umm Kulthoum shied away from Abdel-Wahab's music. She belonged to the Oriental school and did not savour the
ever-increasing Western touches and instrumentation in his music. When he eventually composed for her, his
Western inclinations were kept within limits and the results were a breath-taking blend of essentially Oriental music
with an occasional subtle Western tinge. The two artists complemented each other beautifully.
worked for at the time. The "summit encounter" had evoked much interest in many parts of the world. Dressed in a
sober suit with hardly any make-up, Umm Kulthoum spoke softly -- a far cry from the stage appearances I was used
to -- and chose her words carefully. I was struck by her modesty. Despite the heights of glory and self-assurance she
had reached, she told me she continued to suffer from stage fright when the curtain rose and she faced her audience.
Her perennial handkerchief -- initially a small white one and later a large one, close in size to a scarf, matching her
dress -- was not an appendage of vanity but a simple practicality. She said she needed to dry her hands because
they became clammy due to her awe of the audience.
Hobb (A Night of Love), giving a sparkling two-hour rendition with numerous variations of her own that left the
audience dazed. Her second song, a religious one about the holy sites, required a high pitch at many points. At one
of those points, and without advance warning, her voice cracked, sounding a discordant note. She froze and the
orchestra stopped playing. There was dead silence in the hall for a few seconds followed by frenzied applause from
the 1,800-strong audience. The outburst seemed to reflect a mix of love, encouragement, compassion and maybe
pity. I was dumbfounded, telling myself that the slip was just the result of exhaustion after the strenuous effort made in
the first song and that the lady would bounce back.
stop. She died on 3 February 1975, after a protracted illness during which the nation held its breath and newspapers
ran headlines and editorials imploring the public to pray for her. As the bureau chief of a wire service, I was
responsible for the coverage of the funeral. But I stayed away from the scene, sending an assistant to cover it. I just
could not bear to be there.
love, respect, admiration, nostalgia, yearning and thankfulness for having lived that long with Umm Kulthoum. I
consider the TV series an outstanding success: not only did it give an honest and minute portrayal of that unique
songbird and her achievements; it also projected her integrity and commitment to her art, her friends and to the nation.
born or were just children when Umm Kulthoum died, into full awareness of her art and her sterling character.
meticulousness of the director, In'am Mohamed Ali, and the magnificent acting by the heroine, Sabrine, and the
rest of the cast all contributed to a consummate production that made headlines and drew accolades everywhere.