Thread: Sheikh Amin Hasanein

Okay, folks, what do we know about Sheikh Amin Hasanein (a different "Sheikh Amin" from the one in the sha'abi thread)? ForumEgypt (الشيخ امين حسانين) reports he was born in Cairo in 1889 and died in Tunisia in 1968. If I'm translating correctly, he started out singing religious music, and based on the size of his thread at sama3y (http://www.sama3y.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6185), he was quite prolific as an artist. Apparently some of his recordings come from Tunisian radio broadcasts.

LOL, need help figuring out what is going on here http://www.almasry-alyoum.com/articl...24&IssueID=813. Something about a riot breaking out at a concert and being Nazi Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's favorite singer?!





A few more works here: Arabic Classical Songs - Sheikh Amin Hasanein

Originally Posted by Alexandrian

The reasons Amin Hasanein Salem's works are not widely known publicly is primarily due to the fact that he chose to remain unaffected by Sayed Darwish's musical revolution, singing mostly 19th and early twentieth century music well into the 1940's (when he sang Sayed Darwish stuff, he chose the Doar format which is still pre-classical). There's a great deal of surviving music media (he was quite productive) most of which is of purely academic interest today. Students examin his work when studying the music of Salamah Hegazy and Dawood Hosni primarily.

Do you think Sheikh Amin's move to Tunisia affected his wider popularity at all (i.e., did Tunisia lag behind Egypt in musical innovation)? I think al-Hadi al-Qallal had an enchanting voice, but otherwise, you couldn't fill a thimble with my knowledge of the Tunisian Tarab scene. I worked with a native dance teacher for a while and she used to say that "...Arabs say Tunisians have the best voices." I've never come across anyone else who said that, except maybe rabid Saber al-Robaey fans, though.

I don't know much about the doar format beyond the brief description at Maqam World (Arabic Musical Forms). Can you recommend an example?

As to the sensational aspect of the article, tertiary sources strike again (sorry).

Considering the current discussions on scholarship, it would be progress far beyond the norm for most dancers to stumble onto misinformation and urban legends in the source language! Most dancers are nth-generation away from their sources.

That whole Desert Fox association thing is way overblown. The publication that did the most factual and complete study of the man's contribution is that by لطفي المرايحي. titled "The Sheikh Amin Hasanein Salem. An Era of Tarab.
الشيخ أمين حسنين سالم. عصر من الطرب"

I did find the information on the book, but I suspect it's quite a bit beyond my reading level. (LOL, and it made me feel bad about not taking better advantage of the academic resources at my alma mater while I had the chance...)

Now, I'll jack my own thread by going off in a different direction. Here's a recent quote from Hani's music blog:

"[Bishara Sakhnini is known] for his strong voice that allows him to do old songs in the Damascus style along with that very lengthy mawal where breathing is not allowed."

Is he talking about al-Qudud Aleppo or something else, since Aleppo and Damascus are two different places? How are you not allowed to breathe when you sing? Please explain so I can get the image of Sabah Fakhri fainting out of my head...

Originally Posted by Tourbeau

Do you think Sheikh Amin's move to Tunisia affected his wider popularity at all (i.e., did Tunisia lag behind Egypt in musical innovation)? I think al-Hadi al-Qallal had an enchanting voice, but otherwise, you couldn't fill a thimble with my knowledge of the Tunisian Tarab scene. I worked with a native dance teacher for a while and she used to say that "...Arabs say Tunisians have the best voices." I've never come across anyone else who said that, except maybe rabid Saber al-Robaey fans, though.

He wasn't in Tunisia for that long and yes, Tunisia did lag Egypt musically at that time but so did the rest of the Arab world.
I don't think any one nation can claim a distinction of being the place that raises more great singing voices. The Maghreb, Egypt, the Levant and the Khalij have produced talent numbers commensurate with their populations.

I don't know much about the doar format beyond the brief description at Maqam World (Arabic Musical Forms). Can you recommend an example?

The definition provided on that website isn't all that informative I fear. The primary aspect of the Doar is its circular format. short verses of lyrics are variably composed to allowing the singer to show her/his skill level. While the Math'hab is one of the components, the mentioned "Ghosn" is not a component. Rather, the 'Ahat" and the Rhythm (primarily Masmoudi) are the two other components.
Dawood Hosni composed more Doar works than any other composer. It's Sayed Darwish however who is responsibel for both its finest examples as well as its eventual extinction. His أنا هويت وانتهيت and انا عـشـقـت are major milestones in Egyptian music.
While the format didn't survive past the mid thirties, younger composers such as Mohammad Abdel Wahab did manage to work with it before its ultimate demise. His عشقت روحك is a wonderful example.

Now, I'll jack my own thread by going off in a different direction. Here's a recent quote from Hani's music blog:

"[Bishara Sakhnini is known] for his strong voice that allows him to do old songs in the Damascus style along with that very lengthy mawal where breathing is not allowed."

Is he talking about al-Qudud Aleppo or something else, since Aleppo and Damascus are two different places? How are you not allowed to breathe when you sing? Please explain so I can get the image of Sabah Fakhri fainting out of my head...

I don't think there's such a thing as "the Damascus style". That genre has been equally contributed to by virtually all of the various regions of the Levant.
Don't think of it as not breathing while singing. While it's true that there's a great deal of breathing regulation and control (diaphragm and cranial) associated with that style, as well as longer than average periods of no inhalation, you gotta breath.

I have to admit I preferred Souad Mohammed's version of "Ana haweet" to the older Sayed Darwish one. I'm not quite sure why, though. Is Souad using a more emotive, lively vocal style? Is it the presence of a full arrangement not compromised by primitive recording technology?






I can understand why the style lost favor to more complex compositions. It is quite repetitive. So how would Souad's performance have read to audiences in 1964? Would it have been charmingly retro, or somewhat stuffy and old-fashioned, or did it depend on how old the listener was?

I found a couple of versions of "Ana Esheqt." The oud on Sheikh Imam's version was lovely, but I'm thinking something might have gotten lost on the way to making an unplugged recording that would have made it more engaging in person. I'm adding Munira al-Mahdiyah to my eternally expanding list of singers to listen to and learn more about when I have some time. Too bad the audio is so horrible on her clip. (It sounded like the audio engineer turned on her about two-thirds of the way through the song.)






It looks like MAW cornered the market on recordings of "Esheqt rouhak," though. Most of the videos on YouTube are his or no-names.



I had no idea there were so many clips labeled دور on YouTube. Who's more musically significant to learn about, Saleh Abdel Hai (1896-1962) or Abdel Hai Hilmi (1857-1912)? LOL, maybe I should have titled this thread "Singers who have names that are similar to other singers dancers also never talk about."

Souad Mohammad's rendition benefits from an orchestra backing (Darwish's has a four member Takht). In addition, Darwish never had the greatest of voices but it's a voice that seems to rise right out of that black soil. Think Judy Collins doing Dylan.
Nevertheless, Souad's rendition is highly regarded. Some place hers second only to Riad Al Sunbati monumental rendition and, gasp, ahead of Abdel Wahab's version.

Here's Riad al Sunbati's miraculous effort:



So you found منيره المهديه . Excellent. There's probably no better example of the difference between pre-classical and classical periods than to listen to parallel works done by Munira Al-Mahdiya and Umm Kulthum. Normally, it's the composers who steer the course of music development in their time. We see it with Darwish, Abdel Wahab, Al-Sunbati Al Kahlawi and Hamdi. There're only three Arabic singers that have exerted that kind of effect; Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim and Fairuz. Umm Kulthum marginalized Al-Mahdiya, who had been the undisputed queen for an entire generation, in less than a year. The degree and speed with which Umm Kulthum did that was so powerful that it was actually unsettling to the Art world.

Saleh Abdel Hai's influence is much more significant than Abdel Hai Hilmi's whose accomplishments are overshadowed by several including the most important artists of that time, Salama Hijazi سلامه حجازي . I would advice not to spend too much time on those three however unless you are interested in that particular era.

Originally Posted by Alexandrian

So you found منيره المهديه . Excellent. There's probably no better example of the difference between pre-classical and classical periods than to listen to parallel works done by Munira Al-Mahdiya and Umm Kulthum.

One assumes that Umm Kulthum benefited from a better quality recording medium than Munira did, but I was under the impression that the superior voice still won. Umm Kulthum was the perfect intersection of a one-out-of-millions talent, right place, right time, right collaborators, right technology, etc. In listening to some of Munira's recordings here Arabic Classical Songs - Munira Al Mahdiyah, she has moments where she devolves into such a state of emotion that she's nearly bleating. Even when Umm Kulthum really cut loose, she never sounded like she was losing control of her instrument.

There're only three Arabic singers that have exerted that kind of effect; Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim and Fairuz. Umm Kulthum marginalized Al-Mahdiya, who had been the undisputed queen for an entire generation, in less than a year. The degree and speed with which Umm Kulthum did that was so powerful that it was actually unsettling to the Art world.

Unless you want to count the damage Haifa Wehbe has been able to wreak in the other direction...

In the process of looking up Munira al-Mahdiya, I ended up at Oriental Tunes. I hadn't been there in quite a while and I'd forgotten how much information they had. Oriental Tunes - Select Listening Category So what happened to Farid Ghosn's recordings in 1985?

Saleh Abdel Hai's influence is much more significant than Abdel Hai Hilmi's whose accomplishments are overshadowed by several including the most important artists of that time, Salama Hijazi سلامه حجازي .

Look who's down the page from Farid Ghosn at Oriental Tunes! It's my new friend Saleh, who was also in Munira's ensemble. I didn't realize he was the other Abdel Hai's nephew. (I thought the picture on the YouTube clips where he looked like Pee-wee Herman in a tarboush was bad but this one is worse. Oriental Tunes is using a picture where he looks like a cross between Gilbert Gottfried and Grandpa Simpson rendered badly in wax. Based on the brief TV clip on YouTube from 1960, it doesn't appear either likeness was accurate...)

I would advice not to spend too much time on those three however unless you are interested in that particular era.

Noted. I don't think the pre-classical forms will ever be my favorite style of music, but it's good to know a little about them. Certain ideas (call and response, building repetition, etc.) continue to evolve in the music, and it's useful to know the history of the evolution, even if the songs themselves will never be part of a dancer's repertoire.