Baleegh Hamdy

Baligh Hamdi (Arabic: بليغ حمدي [bæˈliːɣ ˈħæmdi]; 7 October 1931 – 12 September 1993) was an Egyptian composer who created and composed many hit songs for several singers in the Arab world, especially during the 1960s and 1970s. He composed Warda's most famous songs, and the two got married for a long period. Baligh Abdel Hamid Hamdi Morsi was born on 7 October 1931 in the Shubra district of Cairo. His father was a professor of physics at King Fuad I University (now Cairo University). He learned to play the violin at age nine, and the oud two or three years later. He took music lessons with a variety of teachers throughout childhood and teenage years. He became a professional musician in 1954 at age 22. Immediately prior to that, he had been a law student, and he chose to not complete the studies for the law degree. He started his musician career as singer. But very soon he turned to composing, and his compositions got good acceptance in the mid-1950s. In the late 1950s, the then-famous Umm Kulthum sang his composition "Hob Eih" and it was a hit. Some other of Baligh Hamdi's early compositional successes include "Why no", sung by Faydah Kamel, the song "Ma Tehbneesh Be El Shakl Da (Don't love me like that)" performed by Fayza Ahmed, and the song "Tkhounoh ([How do you] Betray [my heart])" by Abdel Halim Hafez. For the next two decades he was by far one of the most popular, successful, and productive composers not only in Egypt but within the entire region. His fame and legacy stay very strong in his native Egypt till this day. Baligh Hamdi frequently said that he drew upon musical ideas and aesthetics in Egyptian folk melodies and rhythms in composing his songs. His sound has a classical flavor due to the heavy use of the string orchestra. But he also made some use of electronic keyboards and guitars in harmony with the strings, or alternating with the strings, in many songs. His best work is published as recordings under the name of the singer. The singers include Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Shadia, Layla Murad, Najat Al Saghira, Fayza Ahmed, Warda (whom he was married to for a decade), Sabah, and other singers. He had also collaborated with the legendary singer Aziza Jalal who promoted her songs Mestaniak and Haramt El Hob Alaya one of the best arabic songs in the 80s. The song "Mestaniak" remained on the top of the charts on many Arab TV and radio stations for many years.