Personal Info
- Country of residence: Lebanon
Information
Halim Al Roumi (1919 - November 1,
1983) was a Lebanese musician and composer. His original name is Hanna Awad
Baradei. He was named after the Roumi family because the family belongs to the
Roman Catholic sect. He is the father of singer Majida El Roumi.
about him
Halim Al-Roumi was born in 1919,
and as the references indicate, he was born in the city of Tyre, in southern
Lebanon. The family moved to Haifa in Palestine, and Halim after two years of
age. He joined the Conservatory in Haifa when he was still young, and
participated in the concerts and festivals that were held there. In the early
forties, he worked at the Near East Radio in Jaffa as a singer, composer and
musician, and the radio approved him as the first artist in all celebrations
and events. In the same period, he won the prize for composing the anthem of
the Jordanian Arab Army, after that he took over the presidency of the musical
department at the Near East Radio, he contributed to its establishment and
reorganization until it became one of the most important radio stations in the
Middle East. In July 1949, he married an Egyptian woman from Port Said (sources
indicate her Palestinian origins) named Mary Lutfi, and he had four children:
Maha, Mona, Magda (who became a professional singer), and Awad.
his artistic beginnings
He began his musical studies at the
only conservatory in Haifa, and he was accepted into it at the age of sixteen,
in recognition of his talent, although admission to this institute was limited
to students who had completed eighteen years of age. It is said that his
father, Awad, had a beautiful voice, but he did not sing.
Halim Al-Roumi began his artistic
career in 1935 as an amateur, so he participated in some private concerts,
theater concerts and festivals in Haifa. In the summer of 1936, he sang for the
first time in Lebanon, in one of Broumana resort hotels, along with some famous
Lebanese singers at that time, such as: Gram Chiba, Laure Daccache, and Wadih
El Safi... His voice and performance impressed Mr. Mounir Dallah, who helped
him enter the Institute. Fouad I taught Arabic music in Cairo in 1937, where he
completed his musical studies in two years instead of six years, and obtained a
diploma in 1939, which was considered at the time a precedent that did not
occur in the history of the institute.
His artistic life in Egypt
His artistic life in Egypt began
before obtaining a diploma, so he gave his first concert on the Egyptian radio
in 1938. In the first period, he used to call himself the unknown artist,
because he felt responsible for his role as an artist and feared failure, but
he soon knew success artistically and popularly, so he revealed His real name,
and he began his activity on a large scale in radio, theaters, and performances
as a singer and composer, and he established a special artistic personality for
himself, which the Egyptian artists of that period testify to him. He was
called "Khalifa Umm Kulthum" due to his distinguished performance.
Near East Broadcasting
In 1941, Al-Roumi returned to
Palestine due to special family circumstances, which forced him to stay with
his family. There, he began working at Near East Radio, as a singer, composer,
and oud player. He was accredited by the administration as the first artist in
all occasions and celebrations.
In 1942, he won the prize for
composing the anthem of the Jordanian Arab Army, and that competition was held
at the Near East Radio headquarters. In 1945, he traveled again to Cairo, where
he met Mr. Ibrahim Warda, a well-known film producer in artistic circles. He
was one of his father's friends, so he offered him cooperation with his company
to star in two films. But his luck in the cinema was bad.
After his return to Haifa, he was
appointed as an assistant in the music department of the Near East Radio. After
a while, he assumed the presidency of the music department in it, and he
contributed with remarkable effectiveness in organizing it and building its
personality, until it became one of the most important radio stations in the
Middle East.
Due to some psychological pressures
as a result of work, Halim Al-Roumi left his job at Near East Radio, which had
moved to Cyprus, and returned to Egypt to compose and sing. In 1948, he
participated in composing some of the songs for two films: “Qamar 14” and
“Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi”.
In Lebanon
Early January 1950 Halim went to
Lebanon, to spend their honeymoon. He was offered a job in the Lebanese Radio
for a short period, and his main task was to re-establish and organize the
music department in it, and a work contract was arranged for him for only three
months, as he was determined to return to the Near East Radio in Cyprus, but
fate preceded him in the Lebanese Radio for thirty years from 1950 until July
1979. Appointed as head of the music department, then transferred to the
position of head of the recording library department by assignment. He lived in
Kfarshima, near the capital, Beirut, where he worked. He wrote his memoirs
summarizing thirty years of serving the Lebanese Radio. These notes were later
published in a book.
He worked hard to raise the level
of the Lebanese song and build its personality. He also contributed to the
establishment and organization of the radio music section on solid foundations,
which were the main pillar in the development and prosperity of the Lebanese
Radio, and in launching a large number of singers and artists.
He participated in the “Quarter
Sound Conference in Arabic Music” that was held in Lebanon, at the invitation
of the Ministry of Education and Fine Arts, on 10/1/1956 and lasted for a week.
The conference was chaired by the Czech musician Alois Haba. Among those who
participated in it: Assi, Mansour Al-Rahbani, Tawfiq Sukkar, Alexei Boutros,
Boghos Jalalian, Halim Al-Roumi (representing the Ministry of News) and Sabri
Sharif.
His daughter, Magda El Roumi
His daughter Magda El Roumi
mastered art, despite his strong opposition, and he composed a number of songs
for her, including “The Feast of the World, O Mothers”, “Lebanon is My Heart”.
She also re-recorded some of his tunes. He called it "the voice of peace
and the future."
his death
Diabetes, which he contracted at
the beginning of his fourth decade, haunted him until the last days of his
life, as a result of which his two legs were amputated, one after the other,
and his vision became scarce until it was completely extinguished. He died on
November 1, 1983, and joined the convoy of creators who devoted their lives and
donations to Lebanon.
His writings
Memoirs of Halim Al-Roumi, printed
and published by Riyadh Al-Rayes House 1992
Achievements and Awards
His awards and works
He won the first prize in the Andalusian
Muwashahat Composition Competition, which was organized by the Academy of Arab
Music in Tunisia in 1972. He composed the following Muwashahat: “Yarno with a
lukewarm end” (old poetry), “Oh, O Ahel Al-Hay” (arranged by the poet Ibn
Zumrak), and “It is necessary to be thankful.” On us” (arranged by the poet Ibn
Al-Khatib). The muwashshah was dealt with in a new way, which is the repetition
of the group for the first verse of it (the qaflah) and after each of its
parts, or the chanting of parts of the khans in which the singer is alone.
Thus, Halim Al-Roumi combined the Egyptian style with the Aleppine style in
performing the muwashshah, abbreviating the chanting of the group.
He produced a lot of diverse
musical and lyrical tunes, amounting to about two thousand different works of
art, including about five hundred and fifty tunes for the Lebanese Radio alone,
broadcast live or recorded with his voice or the voices of the most beautiful
and famous Lebanese and Arab singers, which he had the greatest credit for
discovering, training, teaching and releasing some of them. . He was the one
who introduced Fayrouz to the brothers Assi and Mansour Rahbani in 1951 AD. He
composed and took the hand of his daughter Magda Al-Roumi. Muhammad, Fayza
Ahmed, Nasri Shams al-Din, Nazik, and Nouna El Hana also presented, encouraged,
and encouraged.
His works, in their entirety, were
characterized by depth and artistic originality, dealing with all the lyrical
and musical colors known in Arabic singing, and his production was
distinguished especially by poems, muwashahat and operettas. The most important
of which are: the poems “The Will of the People,” “A Flash on the Banks of the
Nile,” “Perfume” and “The Lake”; and stanzas of “sorrow overcame him, so he
wept”, “he yearns with a lukewarm side”, “Oh, the people of the neighborhood”and “we must be thankful”; and the operettas “The Three Drops”, “Majnoun Layla”and “Abu Al-Zaluf”; And the songs “Don’t Get Angry”, “Saluna” and “Here We Meet
Only”. He was also the first to compose a poem for Abu al-Qasim al-Shabi, which
was “The Will of Life.”
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