Kamel Effendi el Kholay – La Musique Orientale. 212 pp. Arabic language. Many photos.

كتاب الموسيقى الشرقى / تأليف محمد كامل الخلعى.

Author: خلعي، محمد كامل تأليف محمد كامل الخلعي

Publisher: مطبعة التقدم، Miṣr : Maṭbaʿat al-Taqaddum, 1904

Rare book on Arabic Oriental music, printed in Egypt in 1904. Written by Mohamed Kamel Al-Khalai (January 1, 1870 - June 5, 1931), Egyptian musician.

Condition: Cover worn, scuffed and faded, loose hinges. Front endpaper detached. Flaws to spine. Pages in very good condition with minor flaws, wear and browning.

Al-Khalai was one of the prominent music figures in Egypt at the beginning of the twentieth century, he had a great interest in Arabic music and its development, following up on the impact of Turkish music on it.

As a kid in Cairo Kamel Al-Khelai was forced to work in writing notes on Muhammad Ali Street, and during his stay there he dealt with prominent music figures at that period, which prompted him to learn to play musical instruments. Al-Khela’i met Sheikh Muhammad Tawfiq al-Bakri, who was a fan of art, so he presented it in his seminars that he held in his palace in al-Kharnafash. Then it happened that Abu Khalil al-Qabbani came from Damascus to Egypt , and was impressed by Kamel al-Khalai’s talent in music and composition, and took him with him to Levant , and there he moved between the various Syrian cities, and visited Baghdad, Istanbul and Tunisia, and studied Andalusian muwashshahat, but at the same time he was severe Adherence to oriental music and its heritage.

Kamel Al-Khelaei contacted Sheikh Salama Hegazy , joined his first group for the musical theater, and composed many tunes for his plays. Al-Khali’i was a writer who organized poetry, wrote articles on literature and music, and wrote a book on musical history. Many of the great composers, including Muhammad al-Qasabji , studied at his hands . When Kamel Al-Khelaei died in 1931 , his funeral took place from his house in one of the lanes of Muhammad Ali Street in the Citadel.