class: title, center, middle # Egyptian 20th century music and media  ### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D. ### College of Musical Arts --- # Outline * Borrowing one way * Nationalism and stuff * Borrowing the other way * And borrowing back again? --- # Egyptian Cinema .image-float-right[] * Growth through the 40s-60s * Significance in regional and national identities * Pan-Arabism * Balancing *asil* and *hadith* * Tarab singer (*mutriba*) * Ecstatic song, invoked response * *Samaʿa* * “Innovation” in musical style * Expansion of takht ensemble (*firqa*) * Use of operatic harmonies --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/is10XDHGnEM?si=oiUjkKRqolzwINQg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Mohamed Abd al-Wahab: “Ashek el-Ruh" --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kPFOEld732k?si=g7bV4U8c7UYFC0_o" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Abd al-Halim Hafez: “Ahwak” --- # Changes in Dance * Badiaa Masabni * Casino scene developed during her fame * More movement than before, including arms and the use of space * Hollywood influence * Back and forth of “Oriental” fashion * Samia Gamal * Mass media and nationalism * Blending of popular and elite culture * Spanish influences * “Modern” Egyptians watching “modernized” history --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/26V9iOEw1co?si=01l9lsKRiEWN1PXS&start=20" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Badiaa Masabni (20 seconds in) --- class: middle, center ## Mid-Century Modernism ### And Media Superstars --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TywihIi7ZFM?si=UWl1NWkTWoAm2-Au&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Abd al-Wahab (ft. Samia Gamal): “Zeina” --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-IFncIT1jE8?si=tkZ_OLQIaPEj0WM9&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Samia Gamal in *Zenobia* --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MFi4jPZpFAY?si=MC8CoSRQJ77eG_Wf&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Mahmoud Reda & Farida Fahmy from *Mid Year Vacation* --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2fSGxIwphnc?si=Lv-AfMBJUSm3Mmk3&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Abd al-Halim Hafez: "Awal Marra" --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BtiNdCq2g4M?si=MnRVnNW01x5mP5uK&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Sabah: "Yeslamuli Hababna" (1959) --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/inm9FH5rNtI?si=V90r1ztZSk2sbUTb&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Farid al-Atrash: "Habina" --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_7kycoYh1M?si=ZBktWgRCF9H94EAZ&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Asmahan: "Emta Hataraf" --- # Umm Kulthum * Tarab singer * Epitomized many innovations * Takht into firqa * Worked with composers who were pushing boundaries of instrumentation, harmonic motion * Heavily involved in film * From countryside * Epitomized this reimagining of past for national/modern cultural heritage production * Similar story to Mahmoud Reda, Farida Fahmy --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XPGHpBOt5sE?si=2rpFHWg8mtfvzG9h&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Um Kulthoum: “Inta Umri" --- # Arab Nationalism ### How do these popular musics represent women in Egypt? What does that have to do with nationalism? ### What about mass media? What is it's role in an Egyptian nationalism? Does any of this feel familiar in America? --- # More Contemporary Sounds ### Exotic Borrowing Using sound and dance Examples of borrowing? ### Accuracy of representation? Does accuracy matter? --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DUT5rEU6pqM?si=qqAHAl2ULYzMZUyo&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VCLxJd1d84s?si=LxUurGawCB_tIGDS&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> --- # Contemporary Pop .image-float-right.image-40[] * Social contexts * Coffee shops, music videos, concerts, etc. * Nancy Agram * Listen for similarities and differences * First “pop superstar” --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/t_L2nc1MAIU?si=74XGruv5VSGEmhNR&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Nancy Agram: “Ah wa Nuss” --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pkTN1EPCHgI?si=hsjAonyudN9UIxKG&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Nancy Agram: “Enta Eh” --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bD0lPIN_rF8?si=5TT0QE7dZty77a9E&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Haifa Wehbe: “Buss al-Wawa” --- class: middle, center .image-100[] --- class: middle, center <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ufVzxqMzkAw?si=OwjtParSxDKCtLgp&start=30" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe> ### Haifa Wehbe: "Tawaam Hayati" (2025) --- class: title, center, middle # Egyptian 20th century music and media  ### Christopher Witulski, Ph.D. ### College of Musical Arts