24 Facts About Sayed Darwish

Sayed Darwish was born in Alexandria on 17 March 1892.

Sayed Darwish left his studies to devote his life to music composition and singing, then entered a music school where his music teacher admired his talents and encouraged Darwish to press onward in the music field.

Sayed Darwish worked as a bricklayer in order to support his family, and it so happened that the manager of a theatrical troupe, the Syrian Attalah Brothers, overheard him singing for his fellows and hired him on the spot.

Sayed Darwish settled in Cairo and got acquainted with the main companies, particularly Naguib el-Rihani, for whom he composed seven operettas.

Sayed Darwish became associated with the early Egyptian modernist literary movement Al-Madrasa al-Haditha.

Sayed Darwish worked for El Rihani's rival troupe, 'Aly El Kassar's, and eventually collaborated with the Queen of Stages, singer and actress Munira al-Mahdiyya, for whom he composed comic operettas such as "kullaha yawmayn" and started an opera, "Cleopatra and Mark Anthony", which was to be played in 1927 with Muhammad 'Abd al-Wahhab in the leading role.

Sayed Darwish decided to start his own company, acting at last on stage in a lead part.

Whereas in the traditional aesthetics defined in the second part of the 19th century, the dor was built as a semi-composition, a canvas upon which a creative interpreter had to develop a personal rendition, Sayed Darwish was the first Egyptian composer to reduce drastically the extemporizing task left to the singer and the instrumental cast.

Sayed Darwish was personally recorded by three companies: Mechian, a small local record company founded by an Armenian immigrant, which engraved the Shaykh's voice between 1914 and 1920; Odeon, the German company, which recorded extensively his light theatrical repertoire in 1922; Baidaphon, which recorded three adwar around 1922.

Sayed Darwish's music was a successful means of social and political expression, greatly affecting Egyptian national consciousness.

Albeit, it is commonly overlooked that the lyrics to Sayed Darwish's songs were mostly written by respected poet Badi' Khayri.

Sayed Darwish believed that genuine art must be derived from people's aspirations and feelings.

Sayed Darwish dealt with the aroused national feeling against the British occupiers, the passion of the people, and social justice, and he often criticized the negative aspects of Egyptian society.

Sayed Darwish's works, blending Western instruments and harmony with classical Arab forms and Egyptian folklore, gained immense popularity due to their social and patriotic subjects.

Sayed Darwish composed 10 dawr and 21 muwashshat which became classics in the world of Arab music.

Sayed Darwish played a key role in changing traditional "oriental" music from Ottoman classicism to a modern, popular sound that met record companies' demand for fresh taqatiq.

The life of the Sayed Darwish ended on 10 September 1923 at the young age of thirty-one.

At the age of 30, Sayed Darwish was hailed as the father of new Egyptian music and the hero of the renaissance of Arab music.

Sayed Darwish is still very much alive in his works.

Sayed Darwish is a legendary composer remembered in street names, statues, a commemorative stamp, an Opera house, and a feature film.

Sayed Darwish dedicated his melodies to the Egyptian and pan-Arab struggle and, in the process, enriched Arab music in its entirety.

Sayed Darwish put music to the Egyptian national anthem, "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady", the words of which were adapted from a famous speech by Mustafa Kamil.

Coincidentally, on the day of his death, the national Egyptian leader Saad Zaghloul returned from exile; the Egyptians sang Darwish's new song "Mesrona watanna Saaduha Amalna", another national song by Sayed Darwish that was attributed to "Saad" and made especially to celebrate his return.

Sayed Darwish composed music for Badi' Khayri's zajal, which commemorated the return of survivors of the Egyptian work force recruited by the British for the war effort.