A programme relayed from Egypt, consisting of Oriental music ancient and modern, and a glimpse of the street life of Cairo today
A Reading from the Koran by SHEIKH MOHAMMED RIFAAT
Sheikh Mohammed Rifaat has become famous throughout the Arabic Mohammedan world through his broadcasts of the Koran. These are more eagerly listened to than any other item in the programmes. He has the ideal voice for Oriental broadcasting. He is totally blind.
MUSTAFA BEY RIDA AND HIS ORIENTAL
TAKHT
Mustafa Bey Rida (Kanoun) Riad el Sonbati (Oud) Sami Shawa (Violin) Guirguis Said (Nai)
Mustafa el Akkad (Rek)
Mustafa Bey Rida is life President of the Royal Institute of Oriental Music, and Adviser on Oriental Music to the Egyptian State Broadcasting Service. He is reputed to be the finest Kanoun player in the world.
The word ' takht' originally meant a group of instruments assisting the singer, but has now come to mean the instrumentalists and ' assistant ' singers. Every well-known singer has his own permanent takht.
The Kanoun is a harp-shaped instrument with eighty-three strings. The Oud, traditional emblem of Oriental music, looks like a mandola. Riad el Sonbati, still under thirty, is acknowledged by many as being its greatest living player. The Nai is a reed instrument and the most ancient of the instruments. Guirgis Said was a pupil of the late Bizari, the world's greatest nai player. The Rek is an Oriental tambourine, and Mustafa el Akkad is its leading player at the Royal Institute of Oriental Music. His Oriental Orchestra is often heard in Egyptian programmes.
MIZMAR and TABL BALADI
(Ancient Egyptian Reed Music)
Street Scenes in Cairo
An actual relay from the heart of Cairo, the Avenue Fuad and the Opera Square, the Banks of the Nile and the Bazaars, the Muezzin calling the faithful to prayer
The music of the Mizmar and Tabl Baladi is played in every town and village of the Delta and the Nile-the truest Egyptian music that exists today, going back, it is said, to Pharaonic times.
A Pianoforte Recital of Oriental
Music by MEDHAT ASSEM
Medhat Assem is Oriental Director to Egyptian State Broadcasting. He is an accomplished pianist and composer with leanings towards the modern school, interpreting Western music in terms of Oriental rhythm. He can play almost any instrument.
Modem Oriental Music by HASSAN EL SHOGAI 'S ORIENTAL
ORCHESTRA
Songs by UMM KULTHUM (soprano)
Accompanied by MUSTAFA BEY RIDA AND HIS ORIENTAL
TAKHT
SALAAM EL MALEX
The Egyptian National Anthem
(The programme arranged in co-operation with Egyptian State Broadcasting)