Mounir Mourad

Mounir Mourad
منير مراد
Mounir Mourad
Mounir Mourad
Background information
Birth nameMaurice Zaki Murad Mordechai
Born(1922-01-13)13 January 1922
Cairo, Egypt
Died17 October 1981(1981-10-17) (aged 59)
GenresArabic film and dance music
Occupation(s)Singer, actor and film music composer

Mounir Mourad or Monir Morad (Arabic: منير مراد, 13 January 1922 - 17 October 1981), born Maurice Zaki Morad Mordechai, was an Egyptian singer, actor and composer of popular songs. His compositions included film songs for famous stars such as Sharifa Fadel und Sabah, as well as duets for Egyptian actress Shadia and actor Abdel Halim Hafez. He played the leading roles in a few Egyptian films, the most famous being "Good Day" (Neharak Sa'id).

Biography

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Mourad was born in Cairo and grew up as youngest of five children in a musical family. His father Zaki Mourad Mordechai was a famous Jewish Egyptian singer, musician and composer in the early 20th century.[1] His mother was a Jewish Egyptian called Gamilah Ibrahim Roushou, the daughter of Ibrahim Roushou, a local concert contractor, who regularly booked Zaki Mourad to sing at concerts and wedding parties.[2][3] When Mounir was growing up, his sister, the singer and actress Leila Mourad was already famous and singing on Egyptian radio.[4][5][6]

In 1939, Mourad left his French college Collège des Frères (Bab al-Louq), took various jobs, and then entered the field of cinema, first as a script supervisor, and later as assistant director to Kamal Salim in about 24 films in the 1940s.[7]

A poster of the 1954 film Four Girls and an Officer with music by Mounir Mourad.

Mourad was one of the most popular composers of film songs of his time and composed music for several popular singers from Egypt in his personal style, often characterised by rapid rhythms. Among these was his music for the 1953 film ‘’Dahab’’, starring and directed by Egyptian actor Anwar Magdi, who was also his sister’s husband. He also composed the music score for the highly successful 1959 film ‘’The Unknown Woman‘’ directed by Mahmoud Zulfikar‘’.’’[8][9]

Mourad attempted to compose film music with Western influences, but faced difficulties to find a producer. His breakthrough, however, came when he composed his first popular song “One, Two” (“Wahed .. Etneen”) sung by Shadia. His association with popular actress and singer Shadia was a milestone in the history of Egyptian music, as their songs have become classic songs of romance. This opened the way for other singers and filmmakers to entrust him to compose songs for their movies.[7]

Further, Mourad was a pioneer in dance music and musical shows. He composed and developed much of Egypt‘s famous dance music, performed by leading dancers of the time, such as Tahiya Karioka, Samia Gamal, and Naima Akef. In his autobiographical book about Mizrahi Jews, journalist Massoud Hayoon called him “a sort of Egyptian Gene Kelly“.[10]

Mourad performed as actor, dancer and singer in three movies, among them ‘’Ana wa Habibi’’ (‘’My Love and I’’) with Shadia in 1953. In the 1950s, he married actress Soher Al Bably.[7]

Reception

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On their 2007 album Hey Eugene!, American music group Pink Martini included their version of Mourad's song "Bukra w'bado" (Tomorrow and the day after), originally sung by Egyptian star Abdel Halim Hafez.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Zakī Murād (1880-1946) « AMAR Foundation for Arab Music Archiving & Research". Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  2. ^ "منير مراد.. التهميش والطائفة والترفيه". جريدة الرياض (in Arabic). Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  3. ^ "[Jews of Egypt]يهود مصر". Elaph Publishing Limited - إيلاف (in Arabic). 22 December 2005. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
  4. ^ Khayat, Rita El (2011). La femme artiste dans le monde arabe (in French). Editions de Broca. p. 160. ISBN 978-2-36071-001-0.
  5. ^ Zaki, Tawfiq Abdel Hamid (1993). "Musical Families (AR: أسر موسيقية)". The contemporary pioneers of Arabic music (AR: المعاصرون من رواد الموسيقى العربية) (in Arabic). Cairo: The General Egyptian Book Organization. pp. 83–86.
  6. ^ Sanua, Victor D. (2005). Egyptian Jewry: Guide to Egyptian Jewry in the Mid-fifties of the 20th Century : the Beginnings of the Demise of a Vibrant Egyptian Jewish Community. International Association of Jews from Egypt. p. 54. ISBN 978-0-9763226-4-1.
  7. ^ a b c "Egyptian Figures - Muneer Murad". State Information Service - Government of Egypt. 5 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 20 October 2022.
  8. ^ Atkey, Mel (2019). A Million Miles from Broadway (Revised and expanded ed.). Delta, British Columbia: TheFriendlySong Company. p. 399. ISBN 978-0-9916957-4-4.
  9. ^ طاقم العمل: فيلم - المرأة المجهولة - 1959 (in Arabic), retrieved 16 September 2023
  10. ^ Hayoun, Massoud (2019). When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten History. The New Press. p. 5. ISBN 978-1-62097-458-2.
  11. ^ Pink Martini, Hey Eugene!, 2007, booklet, Heinz Records
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