CAIRO - Despite being located in Ramsis Street, the most crowded, congested and noisy street in Cairo, the National Arab Music Institute refreshes you as if you are entering an oasis, indicated by the domed neo-Islamic building with its highly ornamented interior, an echo of the street's more gracious past. The origins of the National Arab Music Institute date back to 1914, when, in an effort to preserve oriental music, Moustafa Bey Reda, director of the Oriental Music Institute, initiated the first assembly of an oriental music club. At that time, oriental music was badly suffering from a lack of interest and on a state of stagnation and decline. At the general assembly in 1921, the Egyptian government granted the club a plot of land in what was then known as Malika (Queen) Nazli Street. In 1923 the oriental music club was inaugurated by King Fuad I and was consequently called the Royal Arab Music Institute, to promote traditional Arab music, teach musical theories and notation and to document traditional compositions. In 1932, the first Arab music conference was held and musicians from throughout the Arab world took part. Their common goal was to raise the standard of oriental music. Well-known artists graduated from this prestigious institute such as the peerless composer, singer and musician Mohamed Abdel-Wahab, singer Mohamed Abdel-Motaleb, and composer Abdel-Halim Noweira. Unfortunately, the building was neglected later in the 20th century and gradually fell into a state of dilapidation. Eventually, the theatre was closed. In 2001, the magnificent building was renovated and fittingly registered as an Egyptian antiquity and affiliated to the National Cultural Centre, Cairo Opera House. The National Cultural Centre undertook a comprehensive renovation of the building which took the better part of a year and a half. The furniture was mended or replaced, wooden mashrabiya and panels repaired, gilding and other decorative motifs ornaments carefully and lovingly restored until the building slowly rose again in its former beauty and glory. The institute contains several sections notably the museum for Mohamed Abdel-Wahab (1902 – 1991), the prominent 20th-century Arab Egyptian musician, singer and composer, whose oversize statue greets you in the garden. Born in the Bab el-Shaariya area of Cairo, the versatile Abdel Wahab played oud (Arabian lute) before the Prince of Poets, Ahmed Shawqi and acted in seven movies. He orchestrated the Egyptian national anthem and late President Anwar Sadat awarded him the rank of general. The museum is divided into several halls. The first presents Abdel-Wahab's childhood, his upbringing, his first steps into the world of art and music, his connection to the Arab Music Institute, his relationship with writers, artists and his handwritten notes. The prizes and medal honours he received from Egypt, Arab and other foreign countries are also displayed. The walls are adorned with photos of his friends, artists, family, Arab kings and Egyptian presidents Sadat and Mubarak. The second more personal presents some of his private rooms such as his bedroom and the chair on which he died on it on May 3, 1991, his glasses and his suits. There is also his private office as well as a collection of his favourite pieces of furniture and some daggers, golden swords and other personal belongings. Another room in his museum is called the Audio-Visual Hall, which contains a complete archive of his works on five computers enabling visitors to listen to Abdel-Wahab's output of over 1,400 songs and melodies including masterpieces still loved today. An interesting aspect of his method of composition is that the visitor can listen to Abdel-Wahab's songs in his voice recorded before he wrote the score. In the Movies' Hall, which holds 12 chairs and a reasonably sized screen, you can enjoy watching the seven films in which Abdel Wahab starred. Unsurprisingly, the Music Institute has a fine museum collection of musical instruments including some very rare old instruments which have been carefully restored. There, the visitor can find almost all music instruments – wind, string, and percussion – even from the Pharaonic era, modern Egyptian instruments, Turkish, Chinese, Japanese, French, Hungarian and Italian. Each showcase bears an exact description of the instrument, and an audio device enables the visitor to listen to its sound and appreciate the difference for instance between the Turkish and the Egyptian nay (flute). The collection includes some exceptional pieces such as a piano with additional keys, used to play oriental melodies with notably smaller intervals than those known in Western musical systems. There is also a Japanese koto, an Indian sitar and a santur from Turkey. For those who want to know in detail about each instrument and how it is made, the museum exhibits many instruments that are divided into parts to show the visitors how they are made and what they consist of. Important for musicians and researchers is the Music Library which holds rare books and manuscripts on art and music as well as a large collection of digitally recorded music by singers and composers from Egypt and the whole Arab world. The living heart of the institute is the Theatre of the Arab Music Institute, in which authentic Arab music performances are regularly held as well as occasional eclectic concerts including those representing a bridge or encounter between Egyptian and foreign musicians. The theatre is a masterpiece of rich gilded floral decoration which fills the ceiling and walls and admirably blends modernity with its renovation and technology that enhance the acoustics and its ornamentation, originality, and tradition. One feels that King Fouad is sitting in his royal box among the attendees. The National Arab Music Institute is located in 22 Ramsis Street, Cairo, (before the Ramsis Central and just past the intersection with 26th July Street and Gamal Abdel-Nasser Metro station). It is open daily (except Fridays and Saturdays) from 10am to 4pm. Entry tickets for non-Egyptians cost LE5. The monthly concert programme can be viewed on the Cairo Opera House website: http://www.cairoopera.org/ecalendar/index.aspx
