Gamal Abdel-Rahim ( ) (November 25, 1924 – November 23, 1988) was a distinguished Egyptian

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

composer and composition professor.

Life and career

Abdel-Rahim was born in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

to a musical father, and began playing the piano at an early age. His early musical studies were supported by the Music Society of the Faculty of Arts of

Cairo University Cairo University () is Egypt's premier public university. Its main campus is in Giza, immediately across the Nile from Cairo. It was founded on 21 December 1908;"Brief history and development of Cairo University." Cairo University Faculty of En ...

(then called Fuad I University), graduating with a degree in history. In 1950 he began university studies in musicology at the Musikhochschule of Heidelberg in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, deciding on a career as a composer. From 1952 to 1957 he studied composition with

Harald Genzmer Harald Genzmer (9 February 1909 – 16 December 2007) was a German composer of classical music and an academic. Biography The son of the legal historian , Genzmer was born in Blumenthal, near Kiel, Germany. He studied composition with Paul ...

(a pupil of

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advo ...

) at the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg The Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ("University of Music Freiburg or Freiburg Conservatory of Music") is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music. ...

. In 1959, Abdel-Rahim was appointed to teach theory and harmony at the newly opened Cairo Conservatory of Music. He was later appointed head of the composition department there (the first of its kind in the Arab world), which he founded in 1971. Abdel-Rahim was quite influential among Egyptian composers of the next generation, as the majority of them studied with him during his time at the Cairo Conservatory. Abdel-Rahim's style fuses traditional Egyptian musical elements with contemporary European elements, focusing on Egyptian materials in his later works more than in his earlier works. He composed many works for orchestra, chorus, and chamber ensembles, as well as songs and music for film, theater, and ballet. He was awarded the State Prize for Composition, as well as the Order of Arts, from the Egyptian government. Abdel-Rahim was married to

Samha El-Kholy Samha Amin El-Kholy (; July 27, 1925– January 25, 2006) was a noted Egyptian musicologist. She published widely about the traditional music and contemporary music of Egypt, including several articles about contemporary Egyptian composers in '' ...

(1925–2006), a noted Egyptian musicologist and former president of the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

in Cairo. Abdel-Rahim died in

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. His notable students include Ahmed El-Saedi,

Rageh Daoud Rageh Sami Daoud (; born November 23, 1954; first name also spelled Ragueh and last name also spelled Dawood) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music. He is a member of that nation's third generation of such composers. He has comp ...

Mona Ghoneim Mona Ghoneim (; b. 1955; first name also spelled Mauna) is an Egyptian composer of contemporary classical music and pianist. She is a member of that nation's third generation of such composers. Ghoneim studied piano with E. Puglisi and compositio ...

, Khaled Shokry, Sherif Mohie El Din, Nader Abbasy, Ali Osman, and Mohamed Abdelwahab Abdelfattah.

References

*El-Kholy, Samha, and John Robison (1993). ''Festschrift for Gamal Abdel-Rahim''. Occasional Paper Series (Fulbright Commission in Egypt), v. 2, no. 2. Cairo: The Binational Fulbright Commission in Egypt. .

External links

Gamal Abdel-Rahim official site
* by Samha El-Kholy

1924 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Egyptian classical composers Egyptian composers Musicians from Cairo Egyptian pianists Egyptian classical pianists Cairo University alumni Hochschule für Musik Freiburg alumni 20th-century classical pianists Egyptian male classical composers Male classical pianists 20th-century Egyptian male musicians Egyptian expatriates in Germany {{Egypt-bio-stub

Life and career

See also

References

External links