Kuwait Times

Published Date: January 14, 2009

Lebanese composer Mansour Rahbani, well-known in the Arab world along with his brother Assi for their roles in musical and theatrical revival, died on Tuesday following a bout of pneumonia. "We have lost the last of the great ones," Lebanese poet and playwright Paul Shawul told AFP. "Mansour has joined his second half, Assi," he added, referring to the death of his brother in 1986. Assi Rahbani was married to legendary Lebanese singing diva Fairuz, for whom the two men composed many songs and plays
-widely popular with Arab audiences.

The duo, who became known as the Rahbani Brothers, also wrote several acclaimed musicals including "Season of Glory" (1960), "A Love Poem" (1973), "Petra" (1977) and "Biyaa el Khawatem" (The Ring Seller -- 1964), which was adapted on screen by Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine. "You cannot talk about Mansour alone. You have what is known as the Rahbani brothers who created a musical revolution that brought with it an innovative extension to the pioneers of Arabic music," Shawul said. Much of
the Rahbani brothers' work focused on themes of village life, growing up, love and patriotism.

Assi and Mansour made Arabic and Lebanese music belong to the modern world and they composed poetry that transcended the time period in which they were born," poet and culture editor of the Lebanese daily an-Nahar Akl Aweet told AFP. Renowned throughout the Arab world, the brothers were also known to a wider audience, including in the United States where they performed at a sell-out concert at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1971. "The Rahbani brothers along with Fairuz created a unique school which br
ought old songs back to life and introduced new ones," said playwright Nidal al-Ashkar.

They created musicals that portrayed Lebanese village life and weaved in famous Arab historical figures as characters such as Zenobia (Queen of Palmyr)," she added. The brothers had endured an impoverished childhood before shooting to fame. Their father played the traditional Arabic oud instrument at local coffee shops to make ends meet, according to a biography written about the Rahbani brothers by Lebanese poet Henri Zoughaib. "Mansour was a a great man and was able to keep giving creatively to the en
d of his life," Ashkar said.

Following Assi Rahbani's death in 1986, Mansour composed several plays on his own including "Legacy", "Kings of the Sects" and "Socrates." His latest "The Return of the Phoenix", opened in the summer of 2008 and is still playing in Lebanon.-AFP