Asmahan (Arabic: أسمهان Asmahān; birth name: Amal al-Atrash; November 18, 1918 – July 14, 1944)^[1] was an Arab singer. She was the sister of Farid al-Atrash.

Early career

She was born on a ship heading from Greece to Lebanon.^{[citation needed]} Asmahan started her career as a teenager in Cairo, Egypt,^{[citation needed]} where she worked with many famous composers such as Riyadh el-Sonbati and Mohamed El Qasabgi.^{[citation needed]} Her films included Intisar Echabab and Garam Wentiqam.

Life and Family

Asmahan's parents were Fahd al-Atrash, a Syrian Druze from Swuayda^[2], and 'Alia al-Mundhir, a Lebanese Druze from Hasbaya.^[3] Her mother was a singer and an oud player, and was a source of inspiration for her children.^{[citation needed]} Asmahan's brother, Farid, was a musician, singer and an oud player; he composed many of her songs.^{[citation needed]} She also had an older brother, Fouad, and a sister and another brother who died at a very young age.

Asmahan's father worked for the Ottoman government in Beirut and then in Demirci in Turkey. When Syria fell to the allies in 1918 Asmahan's father feared revenge, and on October 24, 1918 he fled the country with his two sons and pregnant wife. They took the boat from İzmir to Beirut, and Asmahan was born on that boat. She was named "Amal" (Arabic: آمال Āmāl), meaning "hopes". She was also called "Emily", but always preferred the name "Amal". Fahd was later appointed as a judge in Swuayda, Syria.^[4]

The al-Atrash clan Asmahan and her family was from is a notorious Syrian Druze family, known for its role in the Syrian Revolution and the resistance against the French mandate of Syria in the 1920s. ^[5][6][7] Trouble erupted with the colonial power after King Faysals defeat and the Adham Khanjar incident which Sultan al-Atrash and his men had participated in. 'Alia fled Suwayda with her kids.

Asmahans parents separated in her early childhood. Her father returned to his hometown in Sweida, while the rest of the family emigrated to Egypt (around 1923), where they were naturalized later on.^{[8][citation needed]} Her mother 'Alia al-Mundhir started singing at private parties to support herself and her children.^[9]

Asmahan and her debut

Amal's vocal talent was discovered at an early age. She used to sing at home and in the school's special celebrations.^{[citation needed]} She loved particularly to sing songs by Oum Koulthoum and Mohammad Abdel Wahab.^{[citation needed]}

Their family friend, the Lebanese musician Farid Ghosn, introduced the young talent Amal to Zakaria Ahmad, Mohammad el Qasabji and Daoud Hosni. Hosni suggested her name be changed to Asmahan in memory of an old Persian singer.^{[citation needed]}

There is another version of her discovery: Once her brother Farid was receiving at home one of the biggest musicians in Egypt, the famous composer Daoud Hosni. He happened to hear her singing while she was in her room, so he demanded to see her immediately and asked her to sing again, so Amal sang one more time and Daoud Hosni was very impressed and pleased, after she finished he told her that he once had a pupil who had a beautiful voice, but died at a very young age before knowing the fame she would have deserved, so therefore she was named after that pupil and called Asmahan and so henceforth Amal became Asmahan.^{[citation needed]}

At the age of sixteen, Asmahan was solicited by a record company in Egypt to register her first album which featured her first song Ya Nar Fouadi by Farid Ghosn. Asmahan was forced to drop out of school, but she had already joined one of the most prestigious music academies in Egypt. Among her mentors were Farid Ghosn, Daoud Hosni, Mohammad El Qasabji and Zakaria Ahmad who gave her vocal training and music lessons. With their help she was offered a contract with Colombia Recordings.^{[citation needed]}

Asmahan's rise to fame was very quick,^{[citation needed]} and she performed songs composed by her mentors. Her first public performance was in the prestigious Cairo Opera. She was also asked to sing in the aristocratic family celebrations. She also started singing at Mary Mansour's night club alongside her brother Farid.^{[citation needed]}

Soon after, her cousin, Prince Hassan al-Atrash, came to Cairo and asked for her hand in marriage, so she returned to Syria where the marriage was celebrated in 1933, and gave birth to a daughter, Camellia. She lived in Suwayda, her home town,^[10][11]where people dubbed her "The Princess of the Mountain" (of Jabal el Druze mountain).^{[citation needed]} Her marriage was short-lived, however, and they divorced four years later. After that she returned to Cairo and resumed her singing career, where she married the director Ahmed Baderkhan, but they were also soon divorced. In 1941 she went back to Syria and re-married her cousin Hassan for a short time. Finally, she married the director Ahmed Salem.

Voice characteristics

Known for her wide vocal range, Asmahan's voice could cover the low notes and Oriental Modes and sub-modes to reach the upper Soprano measures; this is shown in her song ya toyoor where she reaches a high A with ease and brio. Asmahan's voice could be seen as the mixture of two oriental divas' voices opposed in style and interpretation Fairouz, famous of her angelic tone of voice who was among the first to adopt the western (old Italian school of singing) singing method using a head resonance technique that is nearer to falsetto at a time where the nasal and chest resonance technique was reigning in the Arabic singing scene, and who despite the fact that her voice is hard to be classified between the mezzo-contralto (alto) and mezzo-soprano could reach high notes yet with less power than Asmahan but have a wide range of dynamics ranging from pianissimo to fortissimo from bottom to top, and Sabah (singer) who is famous for her powerful voice whose technique is similar to the American Broadway belting technique (belt (music)), alongside her phenomenal long breath where she can hold a high note for more than one minute.

Too much pressure (chest resonance technique) will deprive the singer from using a lot of dynamics as he will lose all the pianissimo and the bridge between the head and chest voices will be very difficult, not to mention that the legato line singing will be impossible and that the vocal range will shorten where the head register becomes weak. On the other hand the head voice technique (typical of the Western classical and operatic singing) will eliminate any chest resonance so the voice will become too sweet or artificial and consequently lose all the power and dramatic capacities required for the oriental Tarab genre

Asmahan's voice was so powerful that despite her heavy singing she was still able to use her head register and sing in a very controlled tone of voice a very demanding high pitched musical line with a very impressing and elegant Legato (the vocalization) in Ya touyour by Mohamed El Qasabgi and in a light color of voice (reaching a high A=LA) then return to sing the medium notes and reach the low register with the typical Arabic (nasal+chest) technique. Besides the fact that she was the first Arabic singer to use the classical western technique, very few performers are able to alternate two opposed styles of interpretation and technique in one song.

Some say that Nahwand had similar vocal abilities as Asmahan. Another specialty about her talent was her strength of breath and its duration, accompanied by her ability to switch between various musical notes in one musical sentence, a talent only shared with Fairouz.

Role in World War II

In 1941, during World War II, Asmahan came back to the French Mandate of Syria (Syria was under the rule of Vichy France at that time). She was on a secret mission to convince her people in Jabal el-Druze to allow the British and Free French forces to enter Syria through their territory without a fight. The British and Free French promised the independence of Syria in return, and the Druze agreed. After the Allies secured Syria during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign, General Charles de Gaulle visited Sweida (the capital of Jabal el-Druze) where he met Asmahan, his successful messenger.

Death

On 14 July 1944, a car carrying Asmahan and a female friend of hers crashed into the River Nile after the driver lost control. Without a door on their side both ladies got stuck and drowned. Nevertheless, the driver managed to escape.

These suspicious circumstances gave rise to many rumors and much controversy. Tabloids were rife with conspiracy theories. Among those accused were British intelligence – after many reports claiming she was working with them – of getting rid of her after she handed over some military information to the Germans. The German Gestapo was also accused of killing her for helping the British.

Museum

Her house in Syria is located in the French Quarter of Suwayda. Years after her death, that house was seized by the Syrian government, and became – like much of the French Quarter – a property of the Syrian Army. It took the government sixty-two years to give in to the demands to turn the house into a museum for Asmahan and Farid.

The Ministry of Tourism acquired the house in September 2006, but work on it has yet to start.^{[citation needed]}

A television series in Arabic debuted in 2008 depicting her life and was shown during the month of Ramadan. Asmahan was played by Sulaf Fawakherji.

Notes

External links

• Asmahan at IMDb
• Asmahan Fan site
• Introduction to Asmahan's Secrets, a biography (ISBN 978-0-292-79807-6)

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