Rahbani brothers
Encyclopedia
The Rahbani Brothers Assi Rahbani
(Arabic: عاصي الرحباني; May 4, 1923 - June 21, 1986) and Mansour Rahbani
(Arabic: منصور الرحباني; born 1925 - January 13, 2009), were Lebanese
composers, musicians, songwriters, authors, playwrights/dramatists, philosophers, and poets. They are best known for their work with Lebanese
singer Fairuz
.
While working as police officers in Beirut
, Mansour and Assi started at the radio channel as paperboys, dealing with the music sheets and lyrical editing. They eventually composed their own jingle and suggested it to the supervisor at the channel, Halim El Roumi
, the father of singer Majida El Roumi
. He was impressed with their effort and further encouraged them by paying them for their work and broadcasting it on the channel airwaves. The jingles or pieces were usually broadcast live and the brothers' perfectionism became one of their trademarks as they demanded a lot of time in rehearsal and preparation and efforts from the singers to yield the maximal results.
In 1951, Nouhad Haddad (later known as Fairuz
),one of the singers in the channel's chorus, came to the attention of Halim El Roumi
. Assi composed her very first song, "Itab" ("Blame").
Halim el-Roumi attended the recording session and asked Assi to compose additional songs for her. Assi and Mansour Rahbani and Fairuz soon became one of the most prominent groups on the Lebanese music scene. The trio released about 50 songs in the following 3 years and found it more convenient to split from the channel and work on their own without the employment restrictions. The Rahbani Brothers and Fairuz became a musical team with Mansour writing the lyrics and Assi composing and arranging the songs.
In 1953, Assi proposed to Fairuz and the couple was married in 1954.
In 1957, the trio performed for the first time at the Baalbeck International Festival
; it was the first time that local Lebanese artists had appeared in the festival.
The Rahbani Brothers and Fairuz worked with a wide variety of composers and writers, including Zaki Naseef, Philemon Wehbi, Najeeb Hankash, Michel Trad, Said Akl
, and Mohammed Abdel Wahab
. Philemon Wehbi continued to compose for Fairuz until the 80's.
The musicals mostly focused on the village life, the innocence of growing up, the problems of love, parental care, and the mischief of youth. One of them was made into a feature movie, Biyya'el Khawatem (Rings for Sale) directed by Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine
.
By 1965, the Rahbani Brothers had become one of the most famous musical teams in the Arab World
and they were sought after by singers such as Najat al Saghira and Sabah
. In addition to productions that featured Fairuz, they also wrote and directed hundreds of theatrical and TV productions. Assi also co-starred with Fairuz in the Lebanese movies Safar Barlek (The Exile, 1967) and Bint El-Hares (The Guardian's Daughter, 1968).
, Wadi al'Safi, Ronza, Fadia Tomb El-Hage, and Huda, Fairuz’s younger sister were the most prominent of the Rahbani Brothers' proteges.
Fairuz, Assi, and Mansour were introduced to the Western world during their 1971 tour of the United States
. Initially, managers and event-organizers in the US doubted the popularity and drawing power of Fairuz and the Rahbani Brothers. However, after a June 6, 1971 concert at Carnegie Hall
sold out, Fairuz proved that she could be a viable artist abroad. After four months of extensively touring the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the trio returned to Beirut where Assi and Mansour started working on the musical Al Mahatta (The Station), and a TV show called Al Mawasem (Seasons) starring Huda.
On Sept 22, 1972 Assi suffered a brain hemorrhage and was rushed to the hospital. Fans crowded outside the hospital praying for him and lighting candles. After three surgeries, Assi's brain hemorrhage was halted.
Ziad Rahbani
, the eldest son of Fairuz and Assi, at age 16, decided to take over his father's composition for the musical Saaloui n'Nass (The People Asked Me). Three months after suffering the hemorrhage, Assi attended the premiere performance of the musical in Piccadilly Theatre
in Hamra Street. Elias Rahbani, Assi's younger brother, took over the orchestration and musical arrangement for the performance.
Within a year, Assi had returned to composing and writing with his brother. They continued to produce musicals, which became increasingly political in nature. After the Lebanese Civil War
erupted, the brothers continued to use political satire and sharp criticism in their plays. In 1977, their musical Petra was shown in both the Muslim western and Christian eastern portions of Beirut
.
In 1978, the trio toured Europe and the Gulf nations, including a concert at the Paris Olympia
. As a result of this busy schedule, Assi’s medical and mental health began to deteriorate. Fairuz and the brothers agreed to end their professional and personal relationship in 1979. Fairuz began to work with a production team helmed by her son, Ziad Rahbani
, and Assi and Mansour composed for other artists such as Ronza.
On June 26, 1986 Assi Rahbani died after spending several weeks in a coma. The nation went into mourning. He was buried in East Beirut; in order to make way for his funeral procession, the city's warring Muslim and Christian factions declared a cease fire and opened the city's checkpoints.
. The sold out shows ended with three new songs composed by Mansour and Elias Rahbani, their first collaboration in almost 25 years.
At the end of the show, Fairouz sang to Assi: "I came to Baalbeck after 20 years, asking where you are, but no one could tell me. Don't say you are not here, your shadow is still fluttering on these stairs, calling into the echoes..."
Assi Rahbani
Assi Rahbani was a Lebanese composer, musician and producer. He was part of the Rahbani Brothers , with his brother Mansour Rahbani . He married Lebanese singer Nouhad Haddad, more famous by her stage name, Fairuz...
(Arabic: عاصي الرحباني; May 4, 1923 - June 21, 1986) and Mansour Rahbani
Mansour Rahbani
Mansour Rahbani , was a Lebanese composer, musician, poet and producer, known as one of the Rahbani brothers.- Musical Studies :...
(Arabic: منصور الرحباني; born 1925 - January 13, 2009), were Lebanese
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
composers, musicians, songwriters, authors, playwrights/dramatists, philosophers, and poets. They are best known for their work with Lebanese
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
singer Fairuz
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadi Haddad , famously known as Fairuz is a Lebanese singer who is widely considered to be the most famous living singer in the Arab world and one of the best known of all time...
.
Early career
Coming from a simple town in Beirut's northern suburbs, the Rahbani Brothers were not involved in music besides the extensive reading that their parents made sure they had. Though Assi and Mansour occasionally helped the local priest in arranging the vocals and instrumentation of their Greek Orthodox church masses, their musical career began when Assi obtained a job at the Lower East Radio channel.While working as police officers in Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
, Mansour and Assi started at the radio channel as paperboys, dealing with the music sheets and lyrical editing. They eventually composed their own jingle and suggested it to the supervisor at the channel, Halim El Roumi
Halim El Roumi
Halim El Roumi , born Hanna Baradhy , was a Lebanese musician. He was the father of the Lebanese singer, Majida El Roumi....
, the father of singer Majida El Roumi
Majida El Roumi
Magida El-Roumi was born in Kfarshima, Lebanon, on December 13, 1956. She is a Lebanese singer and a soprano, who started her musical career in the early 1970s when she participated in the talent show, Studio El Fan on Télé Liban and won the gold medal for best female singer...
. He was impressed with their effort and further encouraged them by paying them for their work and broadcasting it on the channel airwaves. The jingles or pieces were usually broadcast live and the brothers' perfectionism became one of their trademarks as they demanded a lot of time in rehearsal and preparation and efforts from the singers to yield the maximal results.
In 1951, Nouhad Haddad (later known as Fairuz
Fairuz
Nouhad Wadi Haddad , famously known as Fairuz is a Lebanese singer who is widely considered to be the most famous living singer in the Arab world and one of the best known of all time...
),one of the singers in the channel's chorus, came to the attention of Halim El Roumi
Halim El Roumi
Halim El Roumi , born Hanna Baradhy , was a Lebanese musician. He was the father of the Lebanese singer, Majida El Roumi....
. Assi composed her very first song, "Itab" ("Blame").
Halim el-Roumi attended the recording session and asked Assi to compose additional songs for her. Assi and Mansour Rahbani and Fairuz soon became one of the most prominent groups on the Lebanese music scene. The trio released about 50 songs in the following 3 years and found it more convenient to split from the channel and work on their own without the employment restrictions. The Rahbani Brothers and Fairuz became a musical team with Mansour writing the lyrics and Assi composing and arranging the songs.
In 1953, Assi proposed to Fairuz and the couple was married in 1954.
In 1957, the trio performed for the first time at the Baalbeck International Festival
Baalbeck International Festival
The Baalbeck International Festival is the oldest and best-known cultural event in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. Since 1955, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have flocked to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon to attend the annual festival...
; it was the first time that local Lebanese artists had appeared in the festival.
The 60's
Fairuz and the Rahbani Bros started building their career based on the numerous songs they recorded and released. Radio and TV became the primary media through which their music was spread. Assi and Mansour also began writing musicals, plays with musical dialogs, and interpretations of patriotic themes that appealed to the Lebanese public.The Rahbani Brothers and Fairuz worked with a wide variety of composers and writers, including Zaki Naseef, Philemon Wehbi, Najeeb Hankash, Michel Trad, Said Akl
Said Akl
Said Akl is a Lebanese poet, writer, and playwright. He is considered one of the most important modern Lebanese poets. He is also a staunch advocate of Lebanese identity and nationalism and the Lebanese language, designing a Latin-based Lebanese alphabet made up of 37 letters.-Early life:Akl was...
, and Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Mohammed Abdel Wahab
Mohammed Abdel Wahab , also transliterated Mohammed Abd el-Wahaab was a prominent 20th-century Arab Egyptian singer and composer...
. Philemon Wehbi continued to compose for Fairuz until the 80's.
The musicals mostly focused on the village life, the innocence of growing up, the problems of love, parental care, and the mischief of youth. One of them was made into a feature movie, Biyya'el Khawatem (Rings for Sale) directed by Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine
Youssef Chahine
Youssef Chahine was an Egyptian film director active in the Egyptian film industry since 1950. He was credited with launching the career of actor Omar Sharif...
.
By 1965, the Rahbani Brothers had become one of the most famous musical teams in the Arab World
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
and they were sought after by singers such as Najat al Saghira and Sabah
Sabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
. In addition to productions that featured Fairuz, they also wrote and directed hundreds of theatrical and TV productions. Assi also co-starred with Fairuz in the Lebanese movies Safar Barlek (The Exile, 1967) and Bint El-Hares (The Guardian's Daughter, 1968).
The 70's
During the 70's, the trio's combined sales passed the 30 million mark due to the international exposure of their music. The Rahbani Brothers also launched the careers of artists who first worked as backup singers for Fairuz or acted in their musicals; many of them became major forces in the Arab music industry. Georgette Sayegh, Najat al Saghira, SabahSabah
Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...
, Wadi al'Safi, Ronza, Fadia Tomb El-Hage, and Huda, Fairuz’s younger sister were the most prominent of the Rahbani Brothers' proteges.
Fairuz, Assi, and Mansour were introduced to the Western world during their 1971 tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Initially, managers and event-organizers in the US doubted the popularity and drawing power of Fairuz and the Rahbani Brothers. However, after a June 6, 1971 concert at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
sold out, Fairuz proved that she could be a viable artist abroad. After four months of extensively touring the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the trio returned to Beirut where Assi and Mansour started working on the musical Al Mahatta (The Station), and a TV show called Al Mawasem (Seasons) starring Huda.
On Sept 22, 1972 Assi suffered a brain hemorrhage and was rushed to the hospital. Fans crowded outside the hospital praying for him and lighting candles. After three surgeries, Assi's brain hemorrhage was halted.
Ziad Rahbani
Ziad Rahbani
Ziad Rahbani is a Lebanese composer, pianist, performer, playwright, and political commentator. His compositions are well-known throughout the Arab world...
, the eldest son of Fairuz and Assi, at age 16, decided to take over his father's composition for the musical Saaloui n'Nass (The People Asked Me). Three months after suffering the hemorrhage, Assi attended the premiere performance of the musical in Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre (Beirut)
The Piccadilly Theatre in Rue Hamra, Beirut was a major venue for concerts, musicals and plays in Lebanon during the 1960s and the 1970s.Though it had a small amount of seats , the Piccadilly was considered as a VIP theatre in Lebanon, and the Middle-east.The theatre closed down in the mid 1980s,...
in Hamra Street. Elias Rahbani, Assi's younger brother, took over the orchestration and musical arrangement for the performance.
Within a year, Assi had returned to composing and writing with his brother. They continued to produce musicals, which became increasingly political in nature. After the Lebanese Civil War
Lebanese Civil War
The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...
erupted, the brothers continued to use political satire and sharp criticism in their plays. In 1977, their musical Petra was shown in both the Muslim western and Christian eastern portions of Beirut
Beirut
Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon, with a population ranging from 1 million to more than 2 million . Located on a peninsula at the midpoint of Lebanon's Mediterranean coastline, it serves as the country's largest and main seaport, and also forms the Beirut Metropolitan...
.
In 1978, the trio toured Europe and the Gulf nations, including a concert at the Paris Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
. As a result of this busy schedule, Assi’s medical and mental health began to deteriorate. Fairuz and the brothers agreed to end their professional and personal relationship in 1979. Fairuz began to work with a production team helmed by her son, Ziad Rahbani
Ziad Rahbani
Ziad Rahbani is a Lebanese composer, pianist, performer, playwright, and political commentator. His compositions are well-known throughout the Arab world...
, and Assi and Mansour composed for other artists such as Ronza.
The 80's
Assi and Mansour Rahbani continued to compose musicals for Ronza and Fadia Tomb El-Hage (Ronza's sister). They re-made their musical Al Sha'khs (The Person) which they had first performed with Fairuz in the early 70's. The songs were re-recorded with Ronza's voice; the production featured a small role played by Rima Rahbani, Fairouz's and Assi's daughter.On June 26, 1986 Assi Rahbani died after spending several weeks in a coma. The nation went into mourning. He was buried in East Beirut; in order to make way for his funeral procession, the city's warring Muslim and Christian factions declared a cease fire and opened the city's checkpoints.
The 90's
In the summer of 1998, Fairouz, Mansour Rahbani, Elias Rahbani, and Ziad Rahbani re-staged a number of their old musicals at the Baalbeck International FestivalBaalbeck International Festival
The Baalbeck International Festival is the oldest and best-known cultural event in the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean. Since 1955, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have flocked to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon to attend the annual festival...
. The sold out shows ended with three new songs composed by Mansour and Elias Rahbani, their first collaboration in almost 25 years.
At the end of the show, Fairouz sang to Assi: "I came to Baalbeck after 20 years, asking where you are, but no one could tell me. Don't say you are not here, your shadow is still fluttering on these stairs, calling into the echoes..."
Musical plays
- Ayyam al Hassaad (Days of Harvest - 1957)
- Al 'Urs fi l’Qarya (The Wedding in the Village - 1959)
- Al Ba'albakiya (The Girl from Baalbek - 1961)
- Jisr el Amar (Bridge of the Moon - 1962)
- 'Awdet el 'Askar (The Return of the Soldiers - 1962)
- Al Layl wal Qandil (The Night and the Lantern - 1963)
- Biyya'el Khawatem (Rings for Sale - 1964)
- Ayyam Fakhreddine (The Days of Fakhreddine - 1966)
- Hala wal Malik (Hala and the King - 1967)
- Ach Chakhs (The Person - 1968-1969)
- Jibal Al Sawwan (Sawwan Mountains - 1969)
- Ya'ich Ya'ich (Long Live, Long Live - 1970)
- Sah Ennawm (Did you sleep well? - 1970-1971 - 2007-2008)
- Nass min Wara' (People Made out of Paper - 1971-1972)
- Natourit al Mafatih (The Guardian of the Keys - 1972)
- Al Mahatta (The Station - 1973)
- Loulou - 1974
- Mais el Reem (The Deer's Meadow - 1975)
- Petra - 1977-1978
- Elissa - 1979 (Never performed due to the separation of Fairuz and Assi)
- Habayeb Zaman - 1979 (Never performed due to the separation of Fairuz and Assi)
- Ar-rabih Assabeh (the seventh spring - 1984)
Films
- (1965) Biyya' el Khawatem (The Ring Seller)
- (1967) Safar Barlek (The Exile)
- (1968) Bint El-Hares (The Guardian's Daughter)