100:, and joined the school's choir and band where he played the clarinet and French horn. His violin teacher obtained a scholarship for him to study at the Berlin Conservatory, however, his father objected to his interest in pursuing a musical career. An accident disabled one of the fingers of his left hand, obliging him to give up his dream of being a virtuoso violinist. He then studied piano, theory, harmony, composition and orchestration with the Italian Menato and the Russian Orlovitsky who were part of a community of European musicians and music teachers who lived and worked in cosmopolitan Cairo. El-Shawan held several administrative positions, most importantly at the Philips International Company where he founded a record production department. He was director of the Soviet Cultural Center in Cairo from 1952 up to 1967. This position enabled him to travel to Moscow in 1956 where some of his early works were performed by the Radio Moscow Orchestra conducted by
122:
were performed by the Moscow Cinema
Orchestra conducted by Aram Khatchaturian with Alexander Bakhtchiev as soloist. In the same year, both works were issued on LP by the Soviet state label Melodia, and in 1972 by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture and Information. Following his return to Cairo, El-Shawan dedicated his time entirely to composition, having also been consultant for Cinema, Theatre and Music Organizations of the Ministry of Culture (1969 â 1976) and professor of composition and orchestration at the Arabic Music Institute (1970 â 1993). In the 1970s, he spent time in East Germany where his Ballet Isis and Osiris was choreographed and recorded by the Leipzig Opera Orchestra. The planned premier of his Ballet in East Berlin did not materialize due to the deteriorating political relations between Egypt and East Germany.
25:
96:, May 6, 1916; died Cairo, May 14, 1993) was one of the most prominent Egyptian composers of the twentieth century. He completed his primary and secondary education at the St. Joseph â La Salle College in Khoronfish, Cairo where he also received a Higher Diploma in Commercial Studies. He studied the violin privately with the German Joseph von Aubervon, a student of
126:
Concerto, the
Symphonic Pictures Abu Simbel, four patriotic cantatas for soloists and choral, the third symphony and several chamber works. In the third period (1966â 1993) he composed the ballet Isis and Osiris, the first opera in the Arabic language, Anas Al-Wugud, the Oman Symphony as well as numerous chamber music works.
121:
Aram
Khatchturian visited Cairo in 1960 and upon hearing El-Shawan's compositions invited him to study with him at the Moscow Conservatory, an invitation which he accepted having lived and studied in the Soviet capital from 1967 to 1969. In 1968, his Symphonic Poem Abu Simbel and his piano concerto
117:
and the
Russian Five, El-Shawan saw the style of these west and central Asian composers as a model of a contemporary musical idiom inspired in traditional music. In Cairo, some of his early works were premiered in 1954 at the American University's Ewart Memorial Hall by a private orchestra that he
140:
El-Shawan created an
Egyptian musical idiom within the framework of Western tonal music, which he conceived of as an âinternational musical language.â His style is characterized by the centrality of lyrical melodies with a modal flavor, some inspired by traditional music, and a chromatic harmonic
125:
El-Shawan's compositions fall into three periods. In the first (c. 1945 â 1955) he wrote chamber music, the symphonic poem âAtchan Ya Sabay, his first symphony, the Opera âAntara, and music for two films. In the second period, (1955 â 1965), he composed large scale works, most notably the Piano
104:
and published on LP by the
Melodiya state record company, including the Fantasia for Orchestra (1945), the Symphonic Poem âAtshan Ya Sabay (1946), and the overture of Opera âAntara (1947). He also came in contact with the music of several contemporary composers, most notably the Russian Dmitri
147:
In recognition of his achievements, Aziz El-Shawan received the
Egyptian Ministry of Culture's first prize in composition in 1956, the Egyptian Government's Arts and Sciences Award of the first order in 1967 and the Oman order of the Arts granted by the Sultan Qabus in 1984.
141:
language. In his vocal works, he explores the expressive potential of the phonetics of the Arabic language. In his Oman
Symphony, El-Shawan expands his musical vocabulary, incorporating rhythmic and melodic characteristics of Omani traditional music.
136:
In addition, the London
Symphony Orchestra performed and recorded his Oman Symphony in 1984 in Muscat. His opera Anas Al-Wugud was premiered at the Cairo Opera House in 1996 and featured in several opera seasons since then.
54:
294:
284:
299:
289:
235:
76:
144:
In addition to his work as a composer and teacher, El-Shawan published four books of music appreciation for the general public.
230:
105:
Shostakovich (1906-1975), the
Armenian Aram Khatchturian (1903 â 1978) and the Azerbajianis Uzeyir Hadjibekov (1885 â 1948),
279:
152:
180:
37:
160:
130:
47:
41:
33:
58:
250:
274:
269:
114:
254:
190:
101:
239:
156:
118:
hired and conducted as the state funded Cairo Symphny Orchestra had not yet been founded.
97:
263:
185:
110:
106:
245:
168:
164:
202:
Castelo-Branco, Salwa El-Shawan (2001). "Egypt: Western Music." In
93:
18:
251:
Aziz El-Shawan Manuscript Score Collection, 1930-1990
46:but its sources remain unclear because it lacks
211:The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
204:The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
113:(1922 â 1984). In addition to the influence of
209:El Kholy, Samha (2001). "`Aziz Al-ShawÄn." In
8:
133:has regularly performed El-Shawanâs music.
255:Isham Memorial Library, Harvard University
77:Learn how and when to remove this message
220:(A Small Encyclopedia of Music). Cairo.
7:
14:
295:Egyptian male classical composers
246:Article mentioning Aziz El-Shawan
285:20th-century classical composers
242: (archived October 27, 2009)
23:
153:Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco
1:
213:, 2nd ed., v. 1, p. 420.
236:Article about Aziz El-Shawan
300:20th-century male musicians
316:
290:Moscow Conservatory alumni
218:Mawsu`a mujaza li'l musiqa
181:List of Egyptian composers
231:Aziz El-Shawan biography
216:El-Shawan, Aziz (1992).
161:New University of Lisbon
151:His daughter, Professor
131:Cairo Symphony Orchestra
32:This article includes a
61:more precise citations.
159:and teaches at the
280:Egyptian composers
191:Lists of Egyptians
102:Aram Khatchaturian
34:list of references
157:Ethnomusicologist
109:(1918 -1982) and
87:
86:
79:
16:Egyptian composer
307:
82:
75:
71:
68:
62:
57:this article by
48:inline citations
27:
26:
19:
315:
314:
310:
309:
308:
306:
305:
304:
260:
259:
240:Wayback Machine
227:
199:
177:
83:
72:
66:
63:
52:
38:related reading
28:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
313:
311:
303:
302:
297:
292:
287:
282:
277:
272:
262:
261:
258:
257:
248:
243:
233:
226:
225:External links
223:
222:
221:
214:
207:
198:
195:
194:
193:
188:
183:
176:
173:
90:Aziz El-Shawan
85:
84:
42:external links
31:
29:
22:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
312:
301:
298:
296:
293:
291:
288:
286:
283:
281:
278:
276:
273:
271:
268:
267:
265:
256:
252:
249:
247:
244:
241:
237:
234:
232:
229:
228:
224:
219:
215:
212:
208:
205:
201:
200:
196:
192:
189:
187:
186:List of Copts
184:
182:
179:
178:
174:
172:
170:
166:
162:
158:
154:
149:
145:
142:
138:
134:
132:
127:
123:
119:
116:
112:
111:Fikret Amirov
108:
103:
99:
95:
91:
81:
78:
70:
60:
56:
50:
49:
43:
39:
35:
30:
21:
20:
217:
210:
203:
150:
146:
143:
139:
135:
128:
124:
120:
107:Kara Karayev
98:Jan Kubelick
89:
88:
73:
64:
53:Please help
45:
275:1993 deaths
270:1916 births
115:Rachmaninov
59:introducing
264:Categories
197:References
67:March 2021
206:, 2nd ed.
175:See also
169:Portugal
155:, is an
238:at the
55:improve
165:Lisbon
92:(born
94:Cairo
40:, or
129:The
253:at
163:in
266::
171:.
167:,
44:,
36:,
80:)
74:(
69:)
65:(
51:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.