Fayrouz and decades of chants and circles around poems, rhymes and songs

In 1934, the girl Nihad Wadih Haddad was born, and in the same year, Egyptian Radio was opened to bring together two major events, each of which is closely related to Arab song, its existence, development and popularity. And this was only a hint of a lyrical revival that was heralded with the birth of that child, who then became a great singer whose resonance fills all parts of the brother countries as a whole, so that the world hears the divisions of the oud, the pain of the violin and the melancholy of the flute in musical introductions that suited the greatness of the voice that was born.
It is the neighbor of the moon, Fayrouz, the voice of the mountain, the harp of Arab singing and the identity of Lebanese creativity that the neighborhood of Zuqaq al-Blat has seen born, emerge and shine. In 1947, the great musician and composer Muhammad Fleifel announced her precious discovery at a school party: Nihad Haddad was still a child, she was only 14 years old, but her talent far exceeded her lack of experience and young age her.
Fleifel, an expert in the brilliance, depth and sensitivity of lyrical voices reminiscent of musical instruments, was thrilled and presented his dazzling discovery on Lebanese Radio as a prelude to presenting it to the public as an exceptional artistic case of great presence and force. It is rare that it is treated as one of nature’s gifts to the Arab masses, who are dabblers in music and singing and lovers of genuine rapture.
And since the charming voice was still in the process of training, preparation and maturity, she joined the choir to undergo the necessary training phases to hone and consolidate the talent. The opportunity to sing solo, in recognition of her skills and of his fluidity sense of existence and strong feelings.
And since study is a necessity to continue and develop talent, the great musician and composer Halim Al-Roumi took it upon himself to teach Fayrouz the basics of musical rules and proper singing systems. sadness makes the listeners’ hearts leap with joy, so Fayrouz repeats link after link in joy, coexistence and in complete harmony with word and melody, as if it were part of a poem or piece of music.
Halim al-Roumi, the master and professor, saw that giving a stage name to Nihad Haddad became an inevitable necessity, so he chose the name Fayrouz, the most attractive from a point of view, and since choosing the distant name of the nickname, the young singer’s new nickname has become a trademark and a registered trademark denoting all that is expensive and precious of jewels The melodies, chants and creations of the divine talent that time has bestowed on the Lebanese people and peoples Arabs, who have united thanks to the resplendent mountain voice about the love of singing and music.
The song Ya Hamam Ya Marouh in 1952 was another discovery of Fayrouz in Egypt, as the song coincided with the outbreak of the July Revolution of 52 and the interest of the regime at that time in unifying the Arab ranks and using the song as a tool and means to bring together and unite the Arab peoples to face the colonial powers and to ask for the liberation of free peoples from the grip of the settlers and invaders. .
This was accompanied by a great lyrical and artistic awakening in Cairo, the capital of the arts and the beacon of education, as there was none among the people of guarded Egypt who did not sing to the voice of Umm Kulthum, Fayrouz, Najah Salam, Abd al-Wahhab, Abd al-Halim, Abd al-Ghani al-Sayyid, Karim Mahmoud, Abd al-Muttalib and others with diamond throats. The great Lebanese singer, Fayrouz, has a prominent place in the hearts of Egyptians, who have started singing his songs with enthusiasm, support and bias. When he sang his famous song, Jerusalem, the city of prayer, the song turned into a title for a cultural and political uprising demanding the liberation of the Holy City. Until now, this song remains an icon of national icons in Fayrouz’s epic singing legacy.
In the 1950s Shadia Lebanon and Arabism became associated with Rahbaniyya, so he worked with brothers Asi and Mansour over a period of more than thirty years, during which time Lebanese song reached its heyday with a group of great singers and composers such as Nasri Shams al-Din, that important singer who participated with her in many musicals and operettas. Mohamed Abdel-Wahhab wrote a group of songs, the most important of which are Jarat al-Wadi and Sakan al-Lail.
Cinema also turned to Fayrouz’s talent, so his important films were “Bayaa Al-Khawatim” in 1964 directed by Youssef Chahine, “Safar Berlak” in 67 and “The Guardian’s Girl” in 68 and the two films directed by Henry Barakat, in over fifteen musicals, including Bridge of the Moon. And the night, and the lamp, and the aura, and the king, and the flint mountains, and wholesome sleep, and the trial, and the days of the harvest, and all of them are works of a historical character worth quoting with the celebration of the birthday of the lyrical sovereign, the cantor of yesterday, today and tomorrow.