As Christopher Stone wrote in his now-classic “Popular Culture and Nationalism in Lebanon: the Fairouz and Rahbani Nation,” the ruins of Baalbek, which symbolizes the long history of the Lebanese motherland, Fairuz gave voice to the existence of Lebanese people as a whole, despite their differences. For the Lebanese, who are fighting nowadays to find a way to get rid of a sectarian-based political system, Fairuz remains a crucial element of their national consciousness. Lebanon is a “Fairuz nation” and if it is able to maintain its national identity, there is no doubt that Fairuz’s voice will remain a dominant factor in this process.
An artist uniting a nation: Lebanon’s Fairuz | Daily Sabah
وُلدت فيروز في 21 تشرين الثاني1935، في حارة زقاق البلاط في مدينة بيروت في لبنان لعائلة سريانية كاثوليكية فقيرة الحال. يعود نسب والدها وديع حداد إلى مدينة ماردين في تركيا. كان والدها يعمل في مطبعة الجريدة اللبنانية لوريون، التي تصدر حتى يومنا هذا باللغة الفرنسية ببيروت. والدتها لبنانية مسيحية مارونية تدعى ليزا البستاني؛ توفيت في نفس اليوم الذي سجلت فيه فيرُوز أغنية “يا جارة الوادي” من ألحان الموسيقار محمد عبد الوهاب. يذكر أنه عقب زواجها من عاصي الرحباني تحولت فيرُوز إلى الكنيسة الأرثوذكسية الشرقية. وهي أم لكلا من الملحن وعازف البيانو اللبناني زياد الرحباني، ليال الرحباني وريما الرحباني وهلا الرحباني.
فيروز – ويكيبيديا
Many of Fairouz’s most beloved songs came from plays such as Jisr al-Qamar (1962; The Moon’s Bridge), Bayyāʿ al-Khawātim (1964; The Ring Seller), Dawālīb al-Hawāʾ (1965; Windmills), and Al-Maḥaṭṭah (1973; The Station) and movies such as Safar Barlak (1966; Exile). The 1967 play Hālah wa al-Malik (Hālah and the King) marked a transition away from the group’s typical rural folkloric subject matter and setting, with Fairouz playing an urban character for the first time. It was also the first time that her son Ziad was involved in one of her projects, stepping in at the age of 17 after Assi suffered a stroke. The plays and movies are characterized by their simple comic plots in which conflicts are solved by singing, romance, or a combination of the two. Fairouz’s short songs in the Lebanese dialect combined traditional and popular musical influences, setting them apart from the long repetitious songs in the Egyptian dialect that were the order of the day.
Fairouz | Singer, Artist, Biography, & Facts | Britannica
تتضمن قائمة أعمال فيروز مجموعة كبيرة تتكون من أكثر من 1500 أغنية تم إصدار ما يقرب 800 أغنية منها. باعت فيروز أكثر من 150 مليون نسخة من ألبوماتها حول العالم.
قائمة أعمال فيروز – ويكيبيديا
Many of her works are nostalgic songs about village life, homeland, romantic love, and loss. She has always sung achingly of poignant love, but frequently blended images of nature in her love songs. Although she always maintained that her songs were not political, the times in which she sang linked many of the tunes and lyrics to the sociopolitical situations of the day. She admits that many of her songs have been interpreted politically: “Everybody explains the song according to their own situations or feelings,” she says. “My choice of music is always linked to love, not to politics.”
Fairuz
In the ensuing years several folkloric ensembles were established in Lebanon. Among them was the Lebanese Folk Troupe, which presented newly created songs and dances and featured celebrated singers such as Fayrouz, Sabah, and Wadi’ al-Safi. Government-sponsored, this particular troupe performed at the Baalbeck Festivals, which incorporated Western symphonic music, ballet, and drama and presented artists such as Joan Baez, Rudolph Nureyev, and Herbert von Karajan. During its height in the 1960s and early 1970s, the folklore movement in Lebanon attracted the talents of a significant group of composers, performers, playwrights, choreographers, dancers, costume designers, and producers, all from a variety of ethnic backgrounds and nationalities.
Fairuz – her music
يا قونه شعبيه
يا قونة شعبية بقلب البيوت.. يا وطني
يا قونة شعبية بقلب البيوت.. يا وطني
شطك سيف معلق عاخصر بيروت.. يا وطني
جبلك حق والحق ما بيموت.. يا وطني
من خشب الدف عملوا لك صليبك.. يا وطني
وعاجبل الشهدا رفعوا لك صليبك.. يا وطني
صمتك الطويل أنا حزنك الطويل أنا
اعطيني صليبك يا وطني
سمروني نطرت وحبيبي ما طل
تركني مـصـلوبة بـهـالـيـل وفـــل
بقلبي عذاب الشعب وعاجبيني اكليل الحرب
وانت عيش يا وطني
وتركني عند شعبك عند ارضك وشعبك
أنا موت يا وطني
كلمات: جوزيف حرب
ألحان: فيلمون وهبي
Kadmous Lebnen 