Dawood Hosni (born David Haim Levi, 26 February 1870 – 10 December 1937) was an Egyptian music composer.
Biography
Dawood's father, Khidr Hossnei, was a jeweler. Dawood's family were
Karaite Jews. Dawood was apprenticed to a bookbinder, Sukkar Bookshop, at the age of ten; a customer, Sheikh Mohammed Abdu, encouraged him to study music and singing. His father did not want him to become a musician but he travelled to
Mansoura, where he studied under the composer Mohammed Sahabaari. He learned composition and oud, and when he returned to
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, sang the compositions of Sheikh Mohammad Abdelrahim (known as El-Masloub). At the age of twenty, he composed in the forms of
adwar,
taqtuqa
A ''taqtūqa'' (Arabic: طـقطـوقـة plural: ''taqātīq'', طـقـاطـيـق) is a genre of light Arabic vocal music sung in regional or colloquial Arabic language, Arabic. It was associated with female vocalists around the turn of the 20 ...
, and
qasida, imitating the singing style of Mohammed Uthman. In 1932, he was selected to record the works of Mohammed Uthman.
He was also the composer of the first
Egyptian opera, "Shamshoon and Delilah".
Hosni composed ensembles for many theatrical musicals for Ukasha, Muneera al-Mahdia, Naguib al-Rihani, Ali al-Kassar, and Muhammed Bahgat, such as "Marouf al-Askafee", "Sabah", "al Brensissah", "al Layalee al Milah", and "al Ghandoura". He was also a teacher to
Umm Kulthum and
Amal al-Atrash
Amal al-Atrash ( ar, آمال الأطرش ', North Levantine ; November 25, 1918 – July 14, 1944), whom he called "
Asmahan
Amal al-Atrash ( ar, آمال الأطرش ', North Levantine ; November 25, 1918 – July 14, 1944), ".
Hussnei's first wife, Qamar ('Moon') died young. It is possible he composed the song 'Qamar al Layli' ('Moon of Many Nights'in the
maqam
MAQAM is a US-based production company specializing in Arabic and Middle Eastern media. The company was established by a small group of Arabic music and culture lovers, later becoming a division of 3B Media Inc. "MAQAM" is an Arabic word meaning a ...
rast) in her honor. He married a second time, in 1920 and had two children, neither of whom became professional musicians. The last professional work Hussnei did was for a musical program for the National Radio Station. He died in 1937.
His son, Yitzhak HaLevi (Abu Badia) made
Aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
to
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, and on December 1977 participated in the
peace talks between Israel and Egypt that were held at the
Mena House
The Marriott Mena House Hotel is a hotel located just outside Cairo, Egypt, owned by the Egyptian General Company For Tourism & Hotels (EGOTH). It was built on the site of an 1869 hunting lodge, and in 1890 opened Egypt's first swimming pool.
Hi ...
in Egypt
[ ח-גי]
המקרה המוזר של ירמיהו שפי
דבר, טור 2, 18 במרץ 1981.
See also
*
list of Egyptians
The following is a list of some of the notable Egyptians inside and outside of Egypt:
Actors Male actors
* Abdel Moneim Madbouly
* Adel Emam
* Ahmed Zaki
* Ahmed El Sakka
* Ahmed Ezz
* Ahmed Helmy
* Ahmed Mekky
* Ahmed Ramzy
* Ali Mansur
* ...
References
*
External links
الموسيقار داوود حسني يهودي الدين عربي الموسيقى
1870 births
1937 deaths
Egyptian composers
Egyptian Jews
20th-century Egyptian male singers
Musicians from Cairo
Egyptian oud players
19th-century Egyptian male singers
{{Egypt-bio-stub