Riad Al-Sunbati

No composer shaped Umm Kulthum's art more deeply than Riad Al-Sunbati. Born in the Delta town of Farskur and trained on the oud — his playing remains a benchmark for the instrument — he wrote for her across five decades: by most counts around ninety works, more than any other composer. His domain was the qasida, the classical Arabic poem sung at full length: settings of Ahmad Shawqi such as "Salou Qalbi" and "Nahj al-Burda," the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam in Ahmed Rami's translation, and above all "Al-Atlal" (1966), widely held to be the summit of her entire repertoire. "Hayyart Albi Maak" (1961) shows his more intimate romantic vein. Sunbati's signature is architecture: long forms that unfold with inevitable logic, modulations timed like dramatic reveals, and ornament pruned to exactly what the text requires. Where others chased fashion, he perfected tradition — and in doing so gave her voice its most enduring monuments.