Music of Egypt - Modern Popular and Folk Traditions

Modern Popular and Folk Traditions

Contemporary Egyptian music traces its beginnings to the creative work of luminaries such as Abdu-l Hamuli, Almaz and Mahmud Osman, who were all patronized by Khedive Ismail, and who influenced the later work of Sayed Darwish, Umm Kulthum, Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Abdel Halim Hafez, Zakariyya Ahmad and other Egyptian musicians.

Egyptian music began its recorded history in the 1910s, around the time composers such as Sayed Darwish were incorporating western musical forms into their work. Some of the Middle East's biggest musical stars have been Egyptian. Abdel Halim Hafez and Umm Kulthum were especially popular. Most of these stars, including Umm Kulthum, were part of the classical Egyptian and Arabic music tradition. Some, like Abd el-Halim Hafez, were associated with the Egyptian nationalist movement in 1952.

Read more about this topic:  Music Of Egypt

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