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Umm Kulthum Essay

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The story behind a voice that touched the hearts of people across the world.

Umm Kulthum, born as Fatema Ibrahim Al-Sayyed Al-Baltagi, was the most celebrated and accomplished singer and public figure of the Arab world during the 20th century. She is believed to have either been born in the late 19th century or in the early 20th century. Her exact birth date remains a mystery, yet people speculate it to have either been December 8 ,1898 or May 9 ,1904.
Umm Kulthum was born to a poor family in a small rural village in Egypt called Tamayet el Zahayra. She was raised in a conservative Muslim household, as her father, Shaikh Ibrahim Al-Sayyed Al-Baltagi, was the imam of the local mosque. She had two siblings, Sayyida and Khalid, who were 10 years …show more content…

This brought about the unique, personal and modern style in her singing.
In the 1930s, she began her tradition of concerts held on the frst Thursday of every month and broadcasted live over radio. Not only was the “Umm Kulthum Night” prioritized by the public but also the government officials, who made a commitment to halt engagements and arrangements to attend her concert. Umm Kulthum faced many health issues throughout her adult life including sensitivity of her eyes to light, forcing her to wear heavy glasses, which eventually became a distinctive feature of her brand image. Her health began deteriorating in 1971, and the singer eventually died of kidney failure in
February 1975 ,3. . Her funeral brought together more than 4 million people, exceeding the presence in
President Gamal Abdel Nasser’s funeral.

Style
Umm Kulthum made a name for herself in the music industry using her strong, nuanced and expressive voice that captivated people across the world. She adopted a classical music style with a modern touch, and she often sung compositions and poems in a colloquial dialect.
She possessed a remarkable ability in improvisation as she performed spontaneous compositions

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