A Rahbani Primer

 

I have been part of the Middle Eastern Music Ensemble of the University of Chicago (MEME) for 11 years.  I have learned so much about Persian and Arab music that I had minimal knowledge when I first started.  I have even learned a lot more about Turkish music which I naively believed I knew pretty well. 

One thing I know for certain about the music of the region is that I have so much more to learn about the artists, composers, musical theory, folk songs, and classical music of region.  It is a vast knowledge, and I am content with the obvious reality that I cannot know everything

While we have been rehearsing for eight weeks, our 2025-26 season begins with our first concert tomorrow, December 7.  The concert, A Salute to Ziad Rahbani, is a tribute to the famed Lebanese pianist, composer, playwright, and political activist, Ziad Rahbani, the passed away at the age of 69 on July 26, 2025.

The passing of Rahbani is a perfect example of my knowledge gap.  I knew of the Rahbani name and that members of the family were prolific and renowned composers of Lebanese music who wrote many of the classics for the legendary Fairuz.  I knew one of them was married to Fairuz.  If you had asked me their first names, which was married to Fairuz, and which were the notable pieces that became masterpieces, I might have gotten a scant few correct answers.  Case in point, I thought when I heard the news of Ziad’s passing, I assumed he was the husband of Fairuz, when, in fact, he was her son. 

There were three Rahbani brothers.  Assi (1923-1986) who was married to Fairuz, Mansour (1925-2009), and Elias (1938-2021).  They were all composers and lyricists.  When people talk of the Rahbani Brothers, they usually are referring to the partnership of Assi and Mansour who were also authors and playwrights.  The number of musicals they wrote, and presumably, produced is pretty impressive.

Ziad was born on January 1, 1956, in Antelias, Lebanon.  As the son of Assi Rahbani and Nouhad Wadie Haddad (Fairuz), he was a crown prince of the Lebanese art and music world in the days when Beirut was truly the Paris of the Middle East.  As he grew up, he certainly embraced his musical heritage, but also as many of us of his generation, he wanted to find his own voice and own way. 

He was writing significant music at a young age of 17 with a theatrical piece:  Sahriyyeh (The Soirée).  One of first big hits was  Mais el Reem which he wrote in 1978.  His music and political activism was heavily influenced by the Lebanese Civil War which began in 1975.  Per the article in the Syriac Press, Ziad Rahbani, Fierce Satirist and Musical Icon of Lebanon, Dies at 68

…it was his own satirical masterpieces—Film Ameriki Taweel (A Long American Film), Bikhsous el Karameh wal Shaab el ‘Anid (On Dignity and the Stubborn People), and Bennesbeh Labokra Chou? (What About Tomorrow?)—that made him a cult legend. Through them, he turned wartime Beirut into a stage where taxi drivers, waiters, and philosophers exchanged despair, laughter, and sharp political critique in equal measure.

A committed leftist, Rahbani was unapologetically vocal about his anti-sectarianism, disdain for corruption, and admiration for progressive ideals. He criticized both the religious establishment and political elites, including those within his own community, in equal measure. 

Yet it was his music—rich with jazz, funk, classical Arabic maqams, and local folkloric rhythms—that truly broke ground. He didn’t just modernize the Lebanese song; he cracked it open and let the world flood in. His musical arrangements, heavily influenced by jazz legends like Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane, were woven into the fabric of Beirut’s melancholic soul. Tracks like “Ana Mesh Kafer,” “Oummi el Hilweh,” and “Bi Nisbeh La Bukra Shu?” remain anthems of cultural resistance across the Arab world. 

In 1979, Ziad Rahbani married Dalal Karam, and the couple had a son they named Assi, in honor of Ziad’s father, Assi Rahbani. The marriage eventually ended in divorce. Years later, a legal dispute arose regarding the paternity of Assi Jr. In 2004, DNA testing confirmed that Ziad was not the biological father. Following this revelation, Rahbani took legal action to disavow paternity, which resulted in a court ruling that stripped the younger Assi of the Rahbani surname and removed him from the family register. 

Ziad Rahbani was a complicated man and a multifaceted talent.  He was troubled in his personal life and had health issues which took him too soon.  He was a great composer.  I am sorry for the passing of Ziad Rahbani, but I am thankful for this concert which motivated me to learn about this amazing man and gifted artist.