Opening of Shams el Assil 18-6-1956

Here is a an excerpt of a song that I have been continuously listening to over the last week. I have listened to 4 different performances and all of them are wonderful and unique, and hence it was difficult to choose what to upload.
Knowing that I will end up uploading all parts that transport me into an ecstatic state, I chose for this week the opening of the song from a concert held to celebrate departure of the last English troops from Egypt. President Gamal Abd el Nasser had invited representatives of Arab and Western nations to attend this concert.


Shams el Assil translates into "Sunset" and the song is a portrayal of the sunset over the Nile written by the famous colloquial poet Bayram El Tounsi. The music is composed by Riad el Sombati.
The lyrics translate into (forgive my poor translation skills):
The sunset turned into gold the leaves of the palm trees, O Nile
a masterpiece portrayed in your album O beautiful

And the flute sang on the banks
And the bodies swang
when the fresh breeze passed swiftly O Nile

(the last 3 lines are the chorus and start after the ad lib singing)

Although there are no improvisations in this excerpt, I am mesmerized by the sound quality: it almost feels like you're sitting in the front row of the Army Club where the concert was held. To be able to experience this is a dream that every Kalsoumholic has, particularly since the overwhelming majority of Oum Kalsoum's recordings during her golden years are of mediocre quality. So, this is how Oum Kalsoum sounded in her 50s, a voice of full blown maturity and control.

Notice her miraculous vibrattos at 1:59 and 3:04; how she whispers the word "touhfa" (masterpiece) at 2:01, making the difficult and rather rough letter "h" coming out of her mouth softly and effortlessly. Notice how she breaks her voice at the word "gamil" (beaiutiful) at 3:30 to picture the breathtaking beauty of the Nile.

Also notice the predominance of the flute in the chorus as of 4:35. The composer wants to match the music to the lyrics and he gave the flute a wonderful role that is simultaneously obvious and subtle. The whole chorus music makes you wanna swing, exactly like the lyrics picture the people swinging to the sound of the flute playing on the banks of the Nile at sunset...and Oum extends and breaks the vowel "i" in "betmil" (swing) to illustrate the movement @ 4:51 and 5:15.
I also like how she plays with the Arabic letter "h" "ح" in both words "houboub" and "hawa" where she switches between the correct pronunciation as she delivers it the first time and one that sounds more like "gh" "غ" as in "hawa" at 5:34 and 5:38. I don't know why she plays with this letter as such, and she does it often in her songs. I have been told that the correct delivery of the Arabic letter "h" "ح" in a song expels a lot of air from the lung, which could compromise the breath control of the singer and that involving the epiglottis and tongue to produce the sound "gh" "غ" spares some air. But I find it also very amusing and interesting that she employs this technique mostly with one word "hawa" in all her songs, which beside meaning breeze or wind, also means "love". On the other hand, "ghawa" with the "غ" means flirting and seduction in Arabic. In a predominantly sexually repressed Arab society, subtle sexual allusions were often employed in vocal art, particularly since in the context of this song, Oum is comparing the beauty of the Nile to the beauty of the love she's experiencing with her lover. Subtle sexual references are also used in the addition of the word "ah" before "ya nile" at 5:51 and 5:58 and the raising of the pitch at the letter "i" in "alil" (fresh) at 6:06 and "Nile" at 6:08. Finally listen the cadence of the closure from 6:11 til the end. This cadence, which is termed "qafla" or "closure" in Arabic music, is one of the most difficult parts of a singing rendition and its execution requires great vocal control in order to avoid faultering. Oum Kalsoum was renown for her complete mastering of this skill.

Enjoy:)