Mohamed El Qasabgi

An Egyptian composer, born in 1892 in Cairo, he grew up in a musical environment. His father was an outstanding Awwad and composer, and the leader of singing and singing in the last century, Abdou Al-Hamouli, sang for him. Therefore, Al-Qasabji was able to use Western technical arts in music without losing his authentic Arab spirit, as long as his roots were deeply rooted in the Arab musical heritage, and as long as his Arab musical personality was fully formed. This great author turned into a professor whose students crowded around him, and Umm Kulthum was his greatest student. Riyad Al-Sunbati was very clearly influenced by him, especially in the films in which we composed their songs together: “Ode to Hope,” “Oh Majd,” “You Who Made the Beautiful,” “I Spent My Life,” and “Rejoice, O My Heart.” Among those who studied under Al-Qasabji at one stage: Fathia Ahmed, Najat Ali, Mounira Mahdia, then Laila Murad, Nour Al-Huda, Souad Muhammad, and especially Asmahan. Al-Qasabji’s influence extended to Muhammad Al-Muji, who in 1954 composed “The Hymn of Galaa” for Umm Kulthum. . Al-Qasabji worked to renew Arabic music in the same years as Sayed Darwish. They began together after the death of Salama Hijazi in 1917, and together they renewed the flavor of Arabic singing, and together they were influenced by the classical European heritage in music, and they introduced expression into singing, and developed musical instruments and made them an important and indispensable part of the musical structure. Al-Qasabji also introduced harmony and polyphony to Arabic music without distorting the mood of this music or losing its spirit, character, and national flavor.