Search engine giant Google celebrates the 110th birthday of Syrian-Egyptian musician and King of the Oud Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش, Farid El-Atrache) with Google Doodle on October 19, 2020.
Here’s a look at the life and work of Arabic singer Farid al-Atrash.
Personal
Birthname: Farid Fahd Farhan Ismail Al-Atrash (فريد فهد فرحان إسماعيل الأطرش)
Birthdate: October 19, 1910
Birthplace: Vilayet of Syria, Ottoman Empire
Died on: December 26, 1974 (aged 64)
Death place: Beirut, Lebanon
Father name: Fahd al-Atrash
Mother name: Alia Bint al-Mundhir
Nationality: Syrian-Egyptian
Famous As: Singer, actor, composer, instrumentalist
Genres: Arabic, Egyptian classical, instrumental
Instruments: Vocals, oud
Interesting Facts about Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش)
- Farid El-Atrache was a Syrian-Egyptian composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor.
- Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش) studied in a music studio as a child and became a disciple to composer Riad Al Sunbati.
- Having moved to Egypt in childhood Farid al-Atrash left on an exceptionally successful career spreading over four decades — recording 500 songs and featuring in 31 films.
- Through recordings of his concerts, sometimes referred to as King of the Oud, Farid al-Atrash is one of the most significant figures of 20th-century Arab music.
- At first, in the mid-1930s, he sang and played on private radio stations, and he became the assistant of the Egyptian musician and composer Riad Al Sunbati.
- Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش) additionally started to perform at the amazing nightclub of the belly dancer and actress Badia Masabny.
- The musical style of his songs, which he himself composed, was essentially oriental-Arabic.
- In 1947, Farid al-Atrash created and co-featured in a film with Samia directed by Henri Barakat; Habib al-‘Oumr (“The love of my life,” 1947), which became an immense achievement.
- His first album Ahla Ma Ghana Farid Al Atrash 1 released many years back, he was 26 years of age. There were 8 songs on this album.
- At the point when his last album Taqasim El Rabie released, he was 104 years of age.
- Farid al-Atrash’s best movies are Immortal Song (1952), The Love of My Life (1947), I Have No One But You (1959), Nagham Fi Hayaty (1975), and The Shore of Love (1974).
- His famous songs are Awel Hamsa, El Haya Helwa, and Noura Ya Noura.
- In a significant number of his songs and almost the entirety of his concerts, al-Atrash would sing a mawal, which is a neighborhood people Egyptian slow voice improvisation of a few poetic lines.
- Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش) featured in 31 Egyptian musical movies from 1941 to 1974.
- Al-Atrash experienced heart issues all through his last 30 years.
- His last film, Nagham Fi Hayati (نغم في حياتي, Songs in my life) was released after his death.
- Farid al-Atrash (فريد الأطرش) died on December 26, 1974, in Beirut, Lebanon at Al Hayek hospital, soon after coming from London. Al-Atrash is buried in Cairo, Egypt close by his sister and brother.
- Over his lifetime, al-Atrash featured in 31 movies and recorded around 500 songs.
- Farid al-Atrash composed songs for top Arab singers, leading his own sister, Asmahan, as well as Wadih El-Safi, Shadia, Warda, and Sabah.
- He is generally viewed as one of the four ‘greats’ of Egyptian and Arabic music, alongside Abdel Halim Hafez, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, and Oum Kalthoum.
- Prominent Egyptian instrumental guitarist Omar Khorshid covered Farid al-Atrash’s songs in a tribute album.
- On October 19, 2020, Google Doodle praised Farid al-Atrash’s 110th Birthday.
