Zakariyya Ahmad ( ar, زكريا أحمد; born 1896 in

Faiyum Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...

, Egypt –1961) was an

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

musician and composer. He mainly sang religious songs as a member of several groups from 1919 to 1929, having studied recitation of the Qur'an under the well-known Egyptian Quranic reciter Mohamed Salama. He became well-known, however, when he expanded his repertory into popular music, especially those expressing patriotism for the new nation-state of modern Egypt. The composition style of the majority of his music is heavily influenced by the traditional styles of Egyptian folk music. Well-known works include solo pieces and

film score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...

s, and in 1931 he began composing sentimental and

Egyptian patriotic songs Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

for

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum ( ar, أم كلثوم, , also spelled ''Oum Kalthoum'' in English; born Fatima Ibrahim es-Sayyid el-Beltagi, ar, فاطمة إبراهيم السيد البلتاجي, Fāṭima ʾIbrāhīm es-Sayyid el-Beltāǧī, link=no; 31 Dece ...

. He also began writing

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s in 1924, eventually producing a total of 56 operettas and 1,070 songs. His father was Egyptian and his mother was Turkish, and influenced his early interest in music.

References

External links

Recording of the composition ''Ahedni Ya Albi''
1896 births 1961 deaths Egyptian composers Egyptian people of Turkish descent 20th-century composers People from Faiyum {{composer-stub