Jono Oud N.Z - 1-22-2018 at 12:35 PM
Jamil Owaiss has composed many excellent pieces in many different maqamat.
They are in these excellent collections:
http://www.classicalarabicmusic.com/Arabic%20Sheet%20Music.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2UHbFObn0g
Does anyone know anything about this great composer?
al-Halabi - 1-22-2018 at 03:12 PM
You are right about the high quality of Jamil Uways's compositions. Although his name is not widely known today he was a prominent master of Arab
music during the interwar years and served as a mentor to musicians who are well remembered today. He was born in 1890 in the district of Jisr
al-Shughur in northern Syria to a Christian family. He moved to Aleppo, where he did his schooling. He acquired high proficiency on the violin and
also became one of the first Syrians to master Western musical notation. In 1913 he migrated to Cairo and became an important figure in its vibrant
musical scene. Sayyid Darwish studied musical notation with him and had him notate his compositions. After Darwish's premature death he became a
mentor to the young Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, teaching him musical notation and helping him introduce the cello, bass, and other Western instruments
into his ensemble. Uways directed Abd al-Wahhab's ensemble and helped issue his many recordings. He returned to Aleppo in 1938 and took on the
direction of the ensemble of the famous singer Marie Jubran, who performed in Aleppo, Damascus, and Beirut. At the request of Umm Kulthum he returned
to Egypt for a while to direct her ensemble. He was one of a number of contemporary musicians from Aleppo who sought their fortunes in Egypt (they
included the violin virtuosos Tawfiq al-Sabbagh and Sami al-Shawwa).
Jono Oud N.Z - 1-23-2018 at 09:30 PM
Thanks so much!
I wondered if he was from Syria.
Jamil Uway's is even more important to Arab Classical Music regarding his important connections with major figures as well as being a superb
composer!
If you have any links about him to add to the amazing information you had kindly provided I am very interested - but what you have said has shed much
light on this great man.
al-Halabi - 1-24-2018 at 06:29 AM
You are welcome. Writings about Arab music in English contain only brief mentions of Uways, but there are biographical sketches of his musical career
in Arabic, and I can provide references and links to those if that would be helpful.
Jono Oud N.Z - 1-25-2018 at 11:29 AM
Yes please - any links would be appreciated and thanks for your excellent summary.
I am interested to write a journal article on him at some point, to make him and many other forgotten masters better known to people.
al-Halabi - 1-25-2018 at 01:36 PM
Here are a few references to published accounts of his life and musical contributions:
(especially pp. 3-9) صميم شريف، الموسيقا
في سورية
(pp. 147-148) نور مهنّا، اهل الطرب
في حلب وبلاد العرب
(vol. 2, pp. 1649-1650) عامر رشيد مبيض، مئة
اوائل من حلب
Salim Tamari and Issam Nassar (eds.), The Storyteller of Jerusalem (2013) mentions briefly that Uways was brought in by the Palestine Broadcasting
House in Jerusalem (founded in 1936) to teach its amateur musicians to play using Western musical notation.
Some of the same information is repeated in biographical sketches available online, such as
http://www.discover-syria.com/news/79
https://www.arab-ency.com/ar/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%AB/%D...
I hope this is of some help. The limited level of detail about noteworthy phases in Uways's musical career in Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon leaves much
room for interesting research. Good luck with it.
John Erlich - 1-25-2018 at 02:54 PM
Posting one Jamil Aouiss song score, "Samai Nawa Athar."
Peace out,
"Udi" John
Jono Oud N.Z - 1-26-2018 at 12:15 PM
Thanks Al-Halabi!
Very good information.
Thank you John for the score!