Small Bibliography
on Umm Kulthum



Virginia Louise Danielsson:

Shaping tradition in Arabic song: The career and repertory of Umm Kulthum. Univerity of Illinois, 1991 (Ph.D. thesis, contains a listing of the known repertoire of Om Kalsoum )

The Voice of Egypt : Umm Kulthum, Arabic Song, and Egyptian Society in the Twentieth Century. (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology), University of Chicago Press.(Publication date: October 1, 1997) ISBN: 0226136116

1987 The Qur'an and the Qasidah: aspects of the popularity of the repertory sung by Umm Kulthum, "Asian Music", XIX-1, 26-45.

Frederic Lagrange

Musiciens et poetes en Egypte au temps de la Nahda. Doctorat Nouveu régime. 94/PA08/0978 . Lille-Theses, Universite de Lille III. ISSN 0294-1767

Gabriele Braune

Umm Kulthum, Ein Zeitalter der Musik in Aegypten, Die moderne aegyptische Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts. Frankfurt/Berlin/New York ...: Lang 1994, ISBN 3-631-47145-9.

Ysabel Saïah:

Oum Kalsoum - L'étoile de l'Orient, (contains a discography by Dr. Youssef Shawki)

Ali Jihad Racy:

Musical Change and Commercial Recording in Egypt, 1904-1932. Ph. D (A very informative work on the recording industry)

Record industry and Egyptian traditional music: 1904-1932, "Ethnomusicology", XX-1, 23-48. 1976

Musical aestethics in present day Cairo, "Ethnomusicology", XXVI-3, 391-406.1982

Music and dance in Lebanese folk proverbs, "Asian Music", XVII-1, 83-97.1985

Words and music in Beirut: a study of attitudes, "Ethnomusicology", 416-427. 1986

Lars Fredriksson:

Orientens stjärna - Oum Kalsoum. Re:Orient - 1997 pp. 14-17. (An article in swedish that I wrote for the Re:Orient festival in Stockholm june 12-15 1997.)


Books in Arabic:

Khaliil al-Misri/Mahmuud Kaamil: " Umm Kulthuum : al-nuSuuS al-kaamila li-gamii3 al-aghaani" (al-lagna al-muusiqiyya al-3ulya, 1979).

Victor Sahhab's "al-sab3a al-kibaar" (daar al-3ilm lil-malayiin, 1987)

'Awad, Mahmud: '1987 Umm Kulthum allati la ya'rifuha ahad' (Umm Kulthum che nessuno conosce), al Qahira, Mu'assasa Akhbar al Yom.

Hefny, Ratiba el-: 'Umm Kalthoum: Mu'agizat il-ghina il-'arabi', Cairo 1994

NA: 'Umm Kalthoum: hayat wa'aghani kawkab ilsharq', Beirut ND

Mégally, Samir: 'L'Égypte Chantée: Oum Kalthoum', Paris 1994

Fu'ad, Dr Ni'mat Ahmad: 'Umm Kalthoum wa'asr min al-fann', Cairo 1976

Fu'ad, Ni'mat A.: 'Umm Kulthum wa 'Asr min al Fann (Umm Kulthum e un secolo d'arte), al Qahira, al Hayat ul Masriyat ul 'Amma lil Kitab.1983

Marini, Abu Bakr al-: 'Umm Kalthoum, Mu'agizat Al-Qarn Al-'ashriin', Casablanca 1975

Hayat wa Aghani Kawkab ish Sharq, (Vita e Canti della Stella d'Oriente, Umm Kulthum) 1988 Beirut, Maktabat ul Hayat lil Tiba'a wa al Nashr.


I am going to add a lot to this bibliography and I do know it is still VERY small so if you don't see some title that you think really ought to be in there please send me the info and I'll include it, and thanks to those of you who already have contributed titles already. (thanks to among many others, Russell, Michel Barontini and Frederic Lagrange.)


* see another bibliography on: Musica del Mondo Islamico supplied by Michel Barontini

* see the discographies on Umm Kulthum

* see the other discographies on Arabic Music


Any information (like dates and location of recording and settings pertaining to the music listed above is very welcome and any information, especially about music not listed above and not in this preliminary discography is most welcome indeed!

Please send e-mail to: mrfung@nada.kth.se if you have any supplementary information or if you find errors in any of the above.