Hani Shenouda…the departure of the author of musical masterpieces

2026/07/21 12:15:37 PM

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Hani Shenouda…the departure of the author of musical masterpieces

On Monday, July 20, the great Egyptian musician Hani Shenouda, who had a prominent mark on the history of Egyptian music, passed away from our world, spanning more than sixty years. He contributed to developing the modern song form, providing a musical legacy that is still present in the conscience of the Arab public. He was credited with discovering a group of Egyptian singing stars, led by: Mohamed Mounir and Amr Diab.

The late musician had fallen into a complete coma several days ago, as a result of the deterioration of his health, due to a group of pathological factors that accompanied his advanced age, and his funeral was held yesterday in Cairo.

Hani Shenouda…the departure of the author of musical masterpieces

A different musical vision:

Hani Masiha Shenouda Touma was born on April 29, 1943, in the city of Tanta. He graduated from the Faculty of Music in Cairo in 1966, before joining the Higher Institute of Music in Egypt “Conservatory” in the same year. He then embarked on the skies of art and creativity, through a long journey in the world of music composition and arrangement that was characterized by distinction, thanks to his childhood that was influenced by the popular atmosphere, religious singing, and dhikr circles in the city of Tanta, to succeed. In presenting a different musical vision during the seventies, combining Egyptian authenticity and Western instruments.

In the same year he graduated, Hani Shenouda joined the band “The Black Coats” and participated as an organ player. He continued to be a member of the band for about 10 years, specifically until he separated from it and founded his own band, which he called “The Egyptians,” which later became one of the most important singing groups in the history of Arab music, and performed dozens of songs that are still popular today, such as: “Siniora’s Cattle,” And “you guessed it,” and “a lot of girls.”

Finder of the most important Arabic sounds:

In his musical career full of successes, the late musician was credited with discovering a group of artistic voices and refining their talents until they became the forefront of Arab singing stars, the most prominent of whom was “The King” Mohamed Mounir, who presented him to the public in the album “Alamoni Aniki” in 1977, through 4 songs, in addition to arranging the entire album. Then he returned and composed 8 songs in his second album, “Bentold.”

Hani Shenouda also contributed to the discovery of “The Plateau” by Amr Diab, as he discovered him at one of the “Al-Masryeen” band’s concerts in Port Said Governorate, then convinced him to move to Cairo and study music.

Amr Diab’s first album, “Ya Tarik”, bore the imprint of Hani Shenouda, through 4 songs he composed, in addition to arranging the entire album. He was credited with introducing Amr Diab to a group of important poets and composers at the time, including: Salah Jaheen, Abdel Rahim Mansour, Shawqi Hijab, and Aziz Al Nasser.

It is difficult to accurately count the number of melodies presented by the late artist Hani Shenouda, due to his combination of composition, musical arrangement, and musical composition. According to the Cinema.com website, since 1975, he has presented more than 166 various tunes for films, series, and plays, the last of which was the film “A Little Reality… A Lot of Imagination,” produced in 2025.

During his career, he participated in creating the soundtracks for 12 films by “The Leader” Adel Imam, and he also composed a group of songs for major stars, such as: Najat Al-Saghira, Fayza Ahmed, and Ahmed Adawiya.