Umm Kulthum[a](Arabic:أم كلثوم;31 December 1898[3][4]– 3 February 1975) was anEgyptiansinger,songwriter,and filmactressactive from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific titleKawkab el-Sharq(Arabic:كوكب الشرق,lit.'Planet of the Orient').[5]Immensely popular throughout theMiddle Eastand beyond, Kulthum is anational iconin her native Egypt; she has been dubbed "The Voice of Egypt"[6][7]and "Egypt'sFourth Pyramid".[8][9]In 2023,Rolling Stoneranked Kulthum at number 61 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[10][11]

Umm Kulthum
أم كلثوم
Background information
Birth nameFatima Ibrahim as-Sayed El-Beltagi
فاطمه إبراهيم السيد البلتاجى
Born(1898-12-31)31 December 1898
Tamay Ez-Zahayra,El Senbellawein,El Dakahlia,Khedivate of Egypt
Died3 February 1975(1975-02-03)(aged 76)
Cairo,Egypt
GenresEgyptian music,classical
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actress
Years active1923–1973
LabelsOdeon
His Master's Voice
Cairophon
Sono Cairo
Mazzika
EMI Classics
EAC Records

Her funeral in 1975 drew a crowd of over 4 million people, the largest human gathering in Egypt's history, even surpassing that of presidentNasser.[12][13]

Biography

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Early life

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Umm Kulthum was born in the village ofTamay El Zahayrawithin themarkazofSenbellawein,Dakahlia Governorate,[4]to a family of a religious background. Her father, Ibrahim El-Sayyid El-Beltagi, was a rural imam, while her mother, Fatmah El-Maleegi, was a housewife.[4]She learned how to sing by listening to her father teach her older brother, Khalid. From a young age, she showed exceptional singing talent. Through her father, she learned to recite theQur'an,and she reportedlymemorized the entire book.[4]

Umm Kulthum as a toddler, with her father Ibrahim El Beltagi

Her grandfather was also a well-known reader of the Qur'an and she remembered how the villagers used to listen to him when he recited the Qur'an.[14]When she was 12 years old, having noticed her strength in singing, her father asked her to join the family ensemble. She subsequently joined as a supporting voice, initially just repeating what the others sang.[15]On stage, she wore a boy's cloak and bedouin head covering in order to alleviate her father's anxiety about her reputation and public performance.[15]At the age of 16, she was noticed by Mohamed Abo Al-Ela, a modestly famous singer, who taught her the old classical Arabic repertoire. A few years later, she met the famous composer andoudistZakariyya Ahmad,who took her toCairo.Although she made several visits to Cairo in the early 1920s, she waited until 1923 before permanently moving there. She was invited on several occasions to the home of Amin Beh Al Mahdy, who taught her to play theoud,a type of lute. She developed a close relationship with Rawheya Al-Mahdi, Amin's daughter, and became her closest friend. Umm Kulthum even attended Rawheya's daughter's wedding, although she usually preferred not to appear in public, outside of her performances.

During the early years of her career, she faced staunch competition from two prominent singers:Mounira El MahdeyaandFatheya Ahmed,who had voices similar to hers. El Mahdeya's friend, who worked as an editor atAl-Masra,suggested several times that Umm Kulthum had married one of the guests who frequently visited her household; this affected her conservative father so much that he decided that the whole family should return to their village.[16]He would only change his mind after being persuaded by the arguments of Amin Al Mahdi.[16]Following this incident, Umm Kulthum made a public statement regarding visits in her household in which she announced she would no longer receive visitors.[17]In 1923 she struck a contract withOdeon Recordswhich by 1926 would pay her more than any other Egyptian musical artist per record.[18]

Professional career

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Amin El Mahdi invited her into the cultural circles in Cairo. In 1924, she was introduced to the poetAhmed Rami,[19]who would later on write 137 songs for her, and would also introduce her toFrench literatureand become her head mentor inArabic literatureand literary analysis.

Poster advertising Umm Kulthum's radio concert inJerusalem,Mandatory Palestine,8–9 October (late 1920s)

In 1926, she left Odeon Records forHis Master's Voicewho would pay her about double per record and even an additional $10,000 salary.[18]She also maintained a tightly managed public image, which undoubtedly added to her allure. Furthermore, she was introduced to the renownedoudvirtuoso and composerMohamed El Qasabgi,who introduced her to the Arabic Theatre Palace, where she would experience her first real public success. Other musicians who influenced her musical performances at the time wereDawwod HosniandAbu al-Ila Muhammad[fr].[19]Al-Ila Muhammad instructed her in voice control, and variants of the ArabicMuwashshah.[20]

By 1930, she was so well known to the public that she had become a role model for several young female singers.[21]In 1932, she embarked upon a major tour of the Middle East and North Africa, performing in prominent Arab capital cities such asDamascus,Baghdad,Beirut,Rabat,Tunis,and finallyTripoli.

In 1934, Umm Kulthum sang for the inaugural broadcast ofRadio Cairo,the state station.[22]From then on onwards, she performed in a concert on the first Thursday of every month for forty years.[15]Her influence kept growing and expanding beyond the artistic scene: the reigning royal family would request private concerts and even attend her public performances.[citation needed]

In 1944,King Farouk Iof Egypt decorated her with the Supreme Class of the (nishan el kamal),[5]a decoration reserved exclusively for female royalty and politicians. Despite this recognition, the royal family rigidly opposed her potential marriage to the King's uncle, a rejection that deeply wounded her pride. It led her to distance herself from the royal family and embrace grassroots causes, exemplified by her acceptance of the request of the Egyptian legion trapped inthe Faluja Pocketduring the1948 Arab–Israeli War,who had asked her to sing a particular song. Among the army men trapped were the figures who would lead the1952 Egyptian revolution,prominentlyGamal Abdel Nasser.[23][24]

Umm Kulthum in 1950

Following the revolution, the Egyptian Musicians' Union of which she became a member (and eventually president), rejected her because she had sung for the then-deposed King Farouk of Egypt. When Nasser discovered that her songs were banned from being aired on the radio, he reportedly said something to the effect of "What are they, crazy? Do you want Egypt to turn against us?"[25]Later, Nasser would schedule his speeches so they would not interfere with the radio performances of Umm Kulthum.[26]

Some claim that Umm Kulthum's popularity helped Nasser's political agenda. For example, Nasser's speeches and other government messages were frequently broadcast immediately after Umm Kulthum's monthly radio concerts. She sang many songs in support of Nasser, with whom she developed a close friendship. One of her songs associated with Nasser— "Wallāhi Zamān, Yā Silāḥī"(" It's Been a Long Time, O Weapon of Mine ")—was adopted as the Egyptian national anthem from 1960 to 1979, when President Sadat replaced it by the less militant"Bilady, Bilady, Bilady"following peace negotiations with Israel; it remains the Egyptian anthem to this day.[27][28]

Umm Kulthum was also known for her continuous contributions to works supporting the Egyptian military efforts.[5]Until 1972, for about half a century she gave at least one monthly concert.[29]Umm Kulthum's monthly concerts were renowned for their ability to clear the streets of some of the world's most populous cities as people rushed home to tune in.[30][29]

Umm Kulthum checking her concert's banner inParis,12 November 1967

Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and loss. A typical Umm Kulthum concert consisted of the performance of two or three songs over a period of three to four hours. These performances are in some ways reminiscent of the structure of Western opera, consisting of long vocal passages linked by shorter orchestral interludes. However, Umm Kulthum was not stylistically influenced by opera, and she sang solo for most of her career.

During the 1930s her repertoire took the first of several specific stylistic directions. Her songs were virtuosic, as befitted her newly trained and very capable voice, and romantic and modern in musical style, feeding the prevailing currents in Egyptian popular culture of the time. She worked extensively with texts by romance poet Ahmad Rami and composer Mohammad El-Qasabgi, whose songs incorporated European instruments such as thevioloncelloand double bass, as well asharmony.In 1936 she made her debut as an actress in the movieWeddadby Fritz Kramp.[31]During her career, she would act in five more movies, of which four would be directed byAhmad Badrakhan[31]whileSallamaandFatmawould be the most acclaimed.[32]

Golden age

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Umm Kulthum with some of the most prominent names in Egyptian classical music. From left:Riad Al Sunbati,Mohamed El Qasabgi,Farid al-AtrashandZakariya Ahmad.

Umm Kulthum's musical directions in the 1940s and early 1950s and her mature performing style led this period to become popularly known as the singer's "golden age". Keeping up with changing popular taste as well as her own artistic inclinations, in the early 1940s, she requested songs from composerZakariya Ahmadand colloquial poetMahmud Bayram el-Tunsicast in styles considered to be indigenously Egyptian. This represented a dramatic departure from the modernist romantic songs of the 1930s, mainly led by Mohammad El-Qasabgi. Umm Kulthum had abstained from singing Qasabgi's music since the early 1940s. Their last stage song collaboration in 1941 was "Raq el Habib" ( "The lover's heart softens" ), one of her most popular, intricate, and high-calibre songs.

The reason for the separation is not clear. It is speculated that this was due in part to the popular failure of the movieAida,in which Umm Kulthum sings mostly Qasabgi's compositions. Qasabgi was experimenting with Arabic music, influenced by classical European music, and had been composing a lot forAsmahan,a singer who immigrated to Egypt from Syria. She was Umm Kulthum's only serious competitor before her death in a car accident in 1944.

Simultaneously, Umm Kulthum started to rely heavily on a younger composer who joined her artistic team a few years earlier:Riad Al-Sunbati.While Sonbati was evidently influenced by Qasabgi in those early years, the melodic lines he composed were more lyrical and more acceptable to Umm Kulthum's audience. The result of collaborations with Rami/Sonbati and al-Tunisi/Ahmad was a populist and popular repertoire that had lasting appeal for the Egyptian audience.

In 1946, Umm Kulthum defied all odds by presenting a religious poem in classical Arabic: Salou Qalbi [ "Ask My Heart" ], written byAhmad Shawqiand composed by Ryad Al Sunbati.[7]The success was immediate and it reconnected Umm Kulthum with her early singing years. Similar poems written by Shawqi were subsequently composed by Sonbati and sung by Umm Kulthum, including Woulida el Houda [ "The Prophet is Born" ] 1949), in which she surprised royalists by singing a verse that describesMuhammadas "theImamofSocialists".

Umm Kulthum greeting filmmakerMahmoud Zulfikarin Cairo, 1958

At the peak of her career, in 1950, Umm Kulthum sang Sonbati's composition of excerpts of what Ahmad Rami considered the accomplishment of his career: the translation from Persian into classical Arabic ofOmar Khayyám'squatrains(Rubayyiat el Khayyam). The song included quatrains that deal with bothepicurianismandredemption.Ibrahim Nagi's poem "Al-Atlal"[" The Ruins "], sung by Umm Kalthum in 1966 in a personal version and with a melody composed by Sonbati, is considered one of her signature songs.[7]As Umm Kulthum's vocal abilities had regressed considerably by then, the song can be viewed as the last example of genuine Arabic music at a time when even Umm Kulthum had started to compromise by singing Western-influenced pieces composed by her old rival Mohammed Abdel Wahab.

When Umm Kulthum sang live, the duration of each song was not fixed as she would repeat at length verses requested by the audience. Her performances usually lasted for up to five hours, during which three songs were sung.[15]For example, the available live performances (about thirty in number) of Ya Zalemni, one of her most popular songs, varied in length from 45 to 90 minutes. Besides requests, it also depended on her creative mood forimprovisations,illustrating the dynamic relationship between the singer and the audience as they fed off each other's emotional energy. One of her improvisatory techniques was to repeat a single line or stance over and over, subtly altering the emotive emphasis and intensity and exploring one or various musical modal scales (maqām) each time to bring her audiences into a euphoric and ecstatic state known in Arabic as "tarab" طرب.[15]This was typical of old classical Arabic singing, and she executed the technique for as long as she could have; both her regressing vocal abilities with age and the increased Westernization of Arabic music became an impediment to this art. Her concerts used to broadcast from 9:30 PM on Thursday until the early morning hours on Friday.[7] The spontaneous creativity of Umm Kulthum as a singer is most impressive when, upon listening to these many different renditions of the same song over a period of five years (1954–1959), the listener is offered a completely unique and different experience. This intense, highly personalized relationship was undoubtedly one of the reasons for Umm Kulthum's tremendous success as an artist. It is worth noting, though, that the length of a performance did not necessarily reflect either its quality or the improvisatory creativity of Umm Kulthum.

Later career

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Umm Kulthum, 1967

Around 1965, Umm Kulthum started collaborating with composerMohammed Abdel Wahab.Her first song composed by Abdel Wahab was "Enta Omri"[" You Are My Life "], and later became one of her iconic songs. In 1969 it was followed by another, Asbaha al-Ana 'indi Bunduqiyyah [" I now have a rifle "].[33]Her songs took on a more soul-searching quality in 1967 following the defeat of Egypt during the Six-Day War. Hadeeth el Rouh [ "sermon of the soul" ], which is a translation of the poet Mohammad Iqbal's "Shikwa", set a very reflective tone. Generals in the audience are said to have been left in tears. Following the formation of theUnited Arab Emirates(UAE) in 1971, she staged several concerts upon the invitation of its first presidentZayed bin Sultan Al Nahyanto celebrate the event.[34]Umm Kulthum also sang for composers Mohammad El Mougi,Sayed Mekawy,andBaligh Hamdi.

Death and funeral

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Funeral procession for Umm Kulthum in Cairo

Umm Kulthum died on 3 February 1975 aged 76, from kidney failure. Her funeral procession was held at the Omar Makram mosque and became a national event, with around 4 million[12]Egyptians lining the streets to catch a glimpse as her cortège passed.[3]Her funeral's attendance drew a greater audience than the one of the Egyptian PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser.[13][21]In the area where the funeral procession took place, traffic was cut off two hours ahead of the procession. The mourners would also wrest the casket from the shoulders of its bearers, force the procession to change its direction[21]and brought her coffin to the prominentAl Azhar mosque.[29]She was buried in a Mausoleum close to theMausoleum of Imam al-Shafi'iin theCity of the Deadin Cairo.[26]Her death was a great tragedy for the country and also drew international media attention, as news of her death was reported by theAmerican Timesmagazine and the GermanSüddeutsche Zeitungmagazine.

Artistic legacy

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Umm Kulthum is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history ofEgyptianandArabic music,[35]with significant influence on a number of musicians, both in theMENAand beyond.Jah Wobblehas cited her as a significant influence on his work, andBob Dylanhas been quoted praising her as well.[36][37]Maria Callas,[38]Marie Laforêt,[39]Bono,[39]andRobert Plant,[40]among many other artists, are also known admirers of Kulthum's music.Youssou N'Dour,a fan of hers since childhood, recorded his 2004 albumEgyptwith an Egyptian orchestra in homage to her legacy.[41]One of her best-known songs, "Enta Omri",has been covered and reinterpreted numerous times."Alf Leila wa Leila"was translated into jazz on French-Lebanese trumpeterIbrahim Maalouf's 2015 albumKalthoum.[42]

Umm Kulthum meeting PresidentGamal Abdel Nasser,Speaker of the ParliamentAnwar Sadatand Music composer Mohamed El-Mougui

In Egypt, Umm Kulthum is nicknamed "Elset" (Egyptian Arabic:الست)[43]meaning "The Lady" inEgyptian dialect,the word "Elset" is derived from the Ancient Egyptian name Aset or Eset, the ancient name of the goddessIsis,one of the most important goddesses ofancient Egypt.[44]The nickname is often heard in her live records when ecstatic audience shout "الله عليكي يا ست"(English: may God bless you, Lady 'Aset') or"عظمة علي عظمة يا ست"(English:" this is greatness upon greatness, Lady 'Aset') and that often happen after she ends a song or hit a high note.[45]

She was referred to as "the Lady" byCharles de Gaulleas well and is regarded as the "Incomparable Voice" byMaria Callas.It is difficult to accurately measure hervocal rangeat its peak, as most of her songs were recorded live. Even today, she has retained a near-mythical status among young Egyptians and the whole of the Arabic World. In 2001, the Egyptian government opened the Kawkab al-Sharq ( "Star of the East" ) Museum in the singer's memory. Housed in a pavilion on the grounds of Cairo'sManesterly Palace,the collection includes a range of Umm Kulthum's personal possessions, including her trademark sunglasses and scarves, along with photographs, recordings, and other archival material.[46]

Her performances combined raw emotion and political rhetoric; she was greatly influential and spoke about politics through her music. An example of this is seen in her music performed after World War II. The theme at the surface was love, yet a deeper interpretation of the lyrics – for example in the song "Salue Qalbi" – reveals questioning of political motives in times of political tension.[13]Umm Kulthum's political rhetoric in her music is still influential today, not only in Egypt, but in many other Middle Eastern countries and even globally. Her entire catalogue was acquired byMazzikaGroup in the early 2000s.

Monument to Umm Kulthum inZamalek,Cairo;it is located in front of the site of the singer's former house

Umm Kulthum is also notable in Baghdad due to her two visits to Iraq, the first occurring in November 1932 and the second in 1946 upon the invitation of regentAbd al-Ilah.During those two visits, the Iraqi artistic, social and political circles took an interest in Umm Kulthum, and as a result, a large number of her fans and her voice lovers opened dozens ofBaghdadi coffeehousesthat bore her name in different places. Today, one of those coffeehouses, named "Star of the East" is preserved onal-Rashid Streetand is still associated with her.[47]

Voice

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Umm Kulthum was acontralto.[48]Contralto singers are uncommon and sing in the lowest register of the female voice.[49]According to some, she had the ability to sing as low as the second octave and as high as the eighth octave at her vocal peak.

Umm Kulthum performing

Her incredible vocal strength, with the ability to produce 14,000 vibrations per second with her vocal cords, required her to stand three feet away from the microphone.[50]She was known to be able toimproviseand it was said that she would not sing a line the same way twice.[15]She was a student of Abu al-Ila Muhammad, starting from her arrival in Cairo up until his death in 1927. He taught her to adapt her voice to the meaning and melody of a traditional Arabic aesthetic.[51]

Remembrance

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She is referenced at length in the lyrics of the central ballad "Omar Sharif" in the musicalThe Band's Visit.[52]A pearl necklace with 1,888 pearls, which she received fromZayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan,is exhibited at theLouvre in Abu Dhabi.[34]Even 40 years after her death, at 10 PM on the first Thursday of each month, Egyptian radio stations broadcast only her music in her memory.[4]

Umm Kulthum's photo forLife Magazine,1940s

In January 2019, at theWinter in Tantora festivalinAl-'Ula,a live concert was performed for the first time with her "appearing as ahologramwith accompaniment by an orchestra and bedecked in flowing, full-length gowns as she had when debuting in the 1920s. "[53]Hologram concerts featuring her have been organized also by the Egyptian Minister of CultureInas Abde-Dayemin theCairo Operaand theDubai Opera.[5]A private museum was established for her in 1998.[54][55][56][57]

Notable songs

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Year Title Translation Label Lyricist Composer
1944 Ghaneely Shwaya Shwaya
(from the film "Sallama" )
Sing Softly for Me Orient Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
1945 Biridaak ya Khalikee By your pleasure my Creator Orient Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
1946 Walad Al Hoda Child of Guidance Cairophon Ahmed Shawki Riad Al Sunbati
1960 Howa Saheeh El Hawa Ghallab It's True That Love Is Overpowering Sono Cairo Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
1961 Hayyart Alby You Confused My Heart Philips Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
1962 Ha Seebak Lezzaman I'm Going to Leave You Abdel Wahab Mohammed Riad Al Sunbati
1963 Betfakker Fe Meen Who Are You Thinking of Sono Cairo Ma'moun El Shinnawi Baligh Hamdi
La Ya Habibi No My Love Philips Abdel Fattah Mustafa Riad Al Sunbati
Lel Sabre Hedoud Limits to Patience Sono Cairo Abdel Wahab Mohammed Mohammed El Mougi
1964 Seret El Hob Love Story Morsi Gamil Aziz Baligh Hamdi
Inta Omri You Are My Life Ahmed Shafik Kamel Mohammed Abdel Wahab
1965 Inta Al Hob You're Love Ahmed Rami
Amal Hayaty Hope of My Life Ahmed Shafik Kamel
1966 Al Atlal The Ruins Ibrahim Nagi Riad Al Sunbati
Fakkarouny They reminded Me Mohammed Abdel Wahab Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Hagartak I Left You Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
1967 Hadeeth El Rouh The Language of the Soul Mohammed Iqbal
El Hob Keda That's How Love Is Bayram al-Tunisi
Awedt Eni I Got Used to Your Sight Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
Fat El Ma'ad Too Late Morsi Gamil Aziz Baligh Hamdi
1968 Ruba'iyat Al Adawiya The Quatrains of Adawiya Tahar Aboufacha Riad Al Sunbati
Hathihy Leilty This Is My Night Mohammed Abdel Wahab Georges Gerdaq
1969 Alf Leila W Leila 1001 Nights Morsi Gamil Aziz Baligh Hamdi
Aqbel Al Leil The Night Is Coming Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
Arooh Lemeen Who Do I Go to Abdel Munaim al-Siba'i
1970 Es'al Rohak Ask Yourself Mohammed El Mougi Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Zekrayat Souvenirs Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
El Hob Kollo All the Love Ahmed Shafik Kamel Baligh Hamdi
Ruba'iyat Al Khayyam The Quatrains of Al Khayyam Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
W Marret Al Ayam And the Days Passed Ma'moun El Shinnawi Mohammed Abdel Wahab
1971 Al Thulathiya Al Muqaddassa The Holy Tercet Saleh Gawdat Riad Al Sunbati
Mesh Momken Abadan Impossible At All Ma'moun El Shinnawi Baligh Hamdi
El Alb Ye'sha' The Heart Loves Bayram al-Tunisi Riad Al Sunbati
Aghda Al'ak' Longing for You
Al Amal Hope Zakaria Ahmed
1972 Raq El Habib Vengeance of the Lover Ahmed Rami Mohamed El Qasabgi
Lasto Fakir I'm Still Thinking Abdel Fattah Mustafa Riad Al Sunbati
Ya Masharny The One Who's Keeping Me Up Ahmed Rami Sayed Mekawy
1973 Hakam Alayna Al Hawa We're in the Hands of Love Mohammed Abdel Wahab Baligh Hamdi
Ahl El Hawa The Lovers Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
Yally Kan Yeshguik 'Anni Whoever Talked to You About Me Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
Sahran La Wahdi Up on My Own
Daleely Ahtar I'm Confused
1974 Shams El Aseel The Lovers Bayram al-Tunisi
Ana Fe Intizarak I "m Waiting for You Zakaria Ahmed
1975 Ya Toul 'Azaby My Suffering Cairophon Ahmed Rami Riad Al Sunbati
Salu Qalby Ask My Heart Relax-In Ahmed Shawqi
Ozkourini Think of Me Cairophon Ahmed Rami
Aghar Min Nesmat Al Gnoub Jealous of the Southern Breeze Sono Cairo
Al Oula Fel Gharam The Best at Falling in Love Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
1976 Misr Tatahaddath 'an Nafsaha EgyptSpeaks of Itself Hafez Ibrahim Riad Al Sunbati
Helm Dream Bayram al-Tunisi Zakaria Ahmed
Al Ahat The Groans
Arak Assi Addame' I See You Crying Abu Firas al-Hamdani Riad Al Sunbati
1978 Sourat Al Shakk Doubt Abdallah Al Faisal

Filmography

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Notes

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  1. ^(Egyptian Arabic:أم كلثوم,Egyptian Arabic:[ˈommekælˈsuːm],also spelledOum Kalthoumin English; bornFatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi,Egyptian Arabic:فاطمه إبراهيم السيد البلتاجى ṭima ʾIbrāhīm es-Sayyid el-Beltāǧī;[1][2]

References

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  2. ^"Umm Kulthum: An Outline of her Life".almashriq.hiof.no.
  3. ^ab"Umm Kulthūm".Encyclopædia Britannica.2012.
  4. ^abcdeNur, Yusif (20 February 2015)."Umm Kulthum: Queen Of The Nile".The Quietus.Retrieved4 February2021.
  5. ^abcd"Egypt's Umm Kulthum hologram concerts to take place at the Abdeen Palace on November 20,21".Egypt Today.14 November 2020.Retrieved4 February2021.
  6. ^Umm Kulthum: A Voice Like Egypt.22 May 2007.
  7. ^abcdDanielson, Virginia (1996). "Listening to Umm Kulthūm".Middle East Studies Association Bulletin.30(2):170–173.doi:10.1017/S0026318400033976.ISSN0026-3184.JSTOR23061883.S2CID152080002.
  8. ^"Umm Kulthoum, the fourth pyramid".2008.
  9. ^Umm Kulthum, homage to Egypt's fourth pyramid,September 2008
  10. ^Rolling Stone Magazine named iconic singer Umm Kulthum among the greatest 200 singers of all time.,8 January 2023
  11. ^"The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time".Rolling Stone.1 January 2023.Retrieved15 August2023.
  12. ^ab"Kumbh together".The Economist.15 January 2013.
  13. ^abcDanielson, Virginia. "Listening to Umm Kulthūm."Middle East Studies Association Bulletin,vol. 30, no. 2, 1996, pp. 170–173.
  14. ^Danielson, Virginia (1987). "The" Qur'an "and the" Qasidah ": Aspects of the Popularity of the Repertory Sung by Umm Kulthūm".Asian Music.19(1): 27.doi:10.2307/833762.ISSN0044-9202.JSTOR833762.
  15. ^abcdefFaber, Tom (28 February 2020)."'She exists out of time': Umm Kulthum, Arab music's eternal star ".The Guardian.Retrieved4 February2021.
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  17. ^Danielson, Virginia (10 November 2008), p.64
  18. ^abDanielson, Virginia (10 November 2008), pp.54–55
  19. ^abDanielson, Virginia (10 November 2008), p.56
  20. ^Danielson, Virginia (10 November 2008), pp.56–57
  21. ^abcDanielson, Virginia (1987), p.29
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  26. ^ab"In search of Umm Kulthum's grave: where the lady rests".The National.4 August 2019.Retrieved18 February2021.
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  29. ^abc"Egyptians Throng Funeral of Um Kalthoum, the Arabs' Acclaimed Singer (Published 1975)".The New York Times.6 February 1975.ISSN0362-4331.Retrieved4 February2021.
  30. ^"Umm Kulthum: 'The Lady' Of Cairo".NPR.org.Retrieved4 February2021.
  31. ^ab"Film card".Torino Film Fest.Retrieved18 February2021.
  32. ^"Biography | Umm Kulthum".albustanseeds.org.Archived fromthe originalon 16 January 2021.Retrieved18 February2021.
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