Today, May 4, marks the 32nd anniversary of the death of "generational musician" Mohamed Abdel Wahab, one of the giants of authentic music in the Arab world, after a career that spanned nearly 77 years.
During his presence on the artistic map, Abdel Wahab relied on his great talent, intelligence and flexibility in dealing with successive generations, as well as the luck that helped him gain attention and support in his early days.
In his long career, the Egyptian artist presented about 1800 melodies, in addition to his theatrical and cinematic works and the production company he founded.
The prophecy of Sheikh Rifaat
Born in 1902, Abdel Wahab grew up in a home that focused on education and memorizing the Qur'an. His father, Sheikh Muhammad Abu Issa, is a muezzin and reciter of the Sidi al-Shaarani mosque in Bab al-Shaaria in Old Cairo. The son joined the mosque book and memorized parts of the Qur'an.
At that stage that established his talent, he was keen to listen, so he went to the moulids and mourning marquees to listen to the Qur'an, and sometimes to the people of rapture. One day, Sheikh Mohammed Rifaat visited the area to attend a mawlid, and predicted a great future after hearing his voice.
Although his father was looking forward to joining Al-Azhar to continue his career as a reader and muezzin, the boy turned to singing and music at the age of ten. He worked in several musical and theatrical groups that gave him the experience of standing on stage and facing the audience, including the "Fawzi Al-Jazayerli Troupe", where he sang between the chapters of the plays.
An extension of Sayed Darwish
The artistic community began to recognize Abdelwahab's talent after he was nominated by the "People's Musician" Sayed Darwish in 1921 to play the character of "Zaalba" in his place in the "Scheherazade operetta" due to his illness.
The young man sang Darwish's famous song "Ana Al-Masri" to break new ground for himself after joining Darwish's band, with whom he had a short-lived friendship, due to the latter's rapid death in 1923.
Darwish's death contributed to the rise of Abdel Wahab's reputation when he was entrusted with the "Sultana of Tarab" Munira Mahdia with the task of completing the composition of the novel "Cleopatra", which Darwish died before he completed it, as the melody was only the first chapter and the end of the second chapter, so Abdel Wahab began to compose the second and third chapters.
The accomplishment of this task marked a turning point in Abdel Wahab's career, introducing the character of "Antonio" to receive the banner of musical theater from Darwish. He also received the banner of musical renewal, although Darwish's imprint on his music remained evident. This is clearly demonstrated in the 1927 Vic Ten Cochina CD.
As interest in musical theatre declined, Abdel Wahab turned to cinema, making his first film, The White Rose, in 1932. He was one of the first singers to start making successful musical films, including "Happy Day" and "A Bullet in the Heart".
Prince of Poets Support
In his childhood, fate wanted to meet the poet Ahmed Shawky at the Printania Theater in downtown Cairo, at the age of ten. However, Shawky at the time objected to Abdel Wahab's work because of his young age, which he said about "the musician of generations" in his memoirs, "I hated Shawky at the time because he tried to prevent me from the most beautiful thing in my life, which is singing."
But he was lucky in his second meeting with the "Prince of Poets" at the San Stefano Casino in Alexandria, to explain to him that he refused to sing it when he was young, fearing for his voice and talent.
Shawky worked to adopt Abdel Wahab artistically, and he was interested in completing his education, not only Arabic and poetry, but also Western music and general culture. The talented boy joined the Oriental Music Club, introducing him to the elite of society, intellectuals and influential people. He also nominated him to compose his poems, which contributed to Abdel Wahab's popularity at the elite and public levels. This was contributed by his assimilation of oriental music, and then keeping pace with Western music, a feature that characterized his music.
The first captain of musicians
Luck also helped Abdel Wahab to achieve his dream of being a syndicate of musicians, because he objected to the position of president being for a woman, although um Kulthum is the owner of the idea of the syndicate in the forties of the last century to preserve the rights of musicians with the crystallization of the idea of syndicates that period.
Oum Kulthum did establish the syndicate, which remained under her management, but Abdel Wahab felt he was the most worthy of the position. With the elections, um Kulthum won the seat. After the Free Officers' revolt against the monarchy in 1952 and the promulgation of the Professional Syndicates Law, new elections were held in which Abdel Wahab was able to achieve his dream of becoming the first president of the syndicate in its new form in 1954.
Triumph over the modern song generation
The title of "Musician of Generations" granted to Abdel Wahab did not come from a vacuum, but he deserved it well, as the artist succeeded in proving his presence strongly among successive generations during his great career, so his star emerged among the generation of twenties, and continued in the thirties and forties.
With the emergence of successive new generations, Abdel Wahab was able to reserve a new space for himself when his melodies played a role in the success of the experiences of other singers, the most famous of which is Abdel Halim Hafez, so he was smart enough to keep him away from the idea of competition.
In the late eighties of the last century, his song "Men Ghir Leih", which he put forward with his voice, was able to achieve great success, and address the modern song, whose most famous star at the time was Amr Diab.
Thus, Abdel Wahab proved his skill in musical workmanship, confirming that he is one of the most diverse and prolific artists of his time. He died on 4 May 1991 at the age of 87, leaving an unparalleled musical and artistic legacy.