El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka

El Hadj M'Hamed El Anka was born on the 20^th May 1907 in Algiers; he died on the 23^rd November 1978 in Algiers. He was seen as the grand master of Andalusian classical music and the Chaabi music of the country.

source of picture: en.wikipedia.org

Early Life

El Anka was born on the 20^th May 1907 under the name Aît Ouarab Mohamed Idir Halo, on 4 Rue Tombouctou in the Casbah of Algiers. His family originally came from At Jennad. His father was Mohamed Ben Hadj Said and the mother was Fatma Bent Boudjemaa. His father was taken ill on the day he was born and the maternal uncle had to replace him for the birth registration and that was what caused the error in the recording of his name. His uncle offered himself to be so to the registry employee by saying that he is his uncle and the employee wrote ‘Halo’.  So he was called Halo Mohamed Idir as from that day.

Anka studied in 3 different schools from the year 1912 to the year 1918: Koranic from the year 1912 to the year 1914, Brahim Fatah from the year 1914 to the year 1917n and another school called Bouzareah from the year 1917 to the year 1918. He stopped going to school to work before he got to his 11^th birthday.

Musical Career

At the age of 13, the leader of the music orchestra, Mustapha Nador saw the passion he had on music and innate sense of rhythm at a festival that his group participated at and he took him on as a player of the tambourine with his orchestra. The sheik and the orchestra taught him how to play the mandole and the musical instrument became the favorite instrument for Anka.

Subsequent to the death of Shaik Nedor on the 9^th May 1926 in Cherchell, Anka took over the arrangement of festivals for the group. The orchestra comprises of Si Saîd Larbi (real name Birou), Omar Bébéo (Slimane Allane) and Mustapha Oulid El Meddah and some others. In the year 1927, he started to participate in the courses that were taught by Sheik Sid Oulid Lakehal and he followed the lesson very well until the year 1932. In the year 1928, he was first exposed to the general public by recording about 27 discs for Columbia, the first publisher he had and participating in the inauguration of the radio PTT Algiers. On the 5^th August of the year 1931, the prominent Sheik Abderrahmane Saide died and Anka assisted in the filling of the void. The popularity he had, assisted by the new record pl;ayer as well as the radio developed; he was at a time given an invitation to play music for the King of Morocco. After Columbia, he manufactured another 10 78 rpm discs with Algeriaphone in the year 1932 and then he made another 10 78 rpm records with the Polyphone when he came back to the country from Mecca in the year 1937, he reshaped his orchestra and travelled all over Algeria and France to play his music.

After the World War II, Anka was given an invitation to be the director of popular music on ENRS Algiers Radio that succeeded Radio PTT. The Popular music that he promoted from the year 1946 became chaabi. He started teaching chaabi as a professor at the municipal Academy of Algiers in the year 1955. His first students all became sheiks in their turn even Amar Lâachab, Hassen Said, and Rachid Souki.

When counted, Anka wrote the total pf 360 music and produced about 130 records. He died on the 23^rd November 1978, in Algiers; he was buried in the El Kettar Cemetary in the country.

Songs

Ø  Lahmam lirabitou

Ø  Sebhan ellah ya ltif

Ø  Win saâdi win

Ø  Achki fi khnata

Bibliography

Saadallah, Rabah (1981). El-Hadj M'hamed El-Anka maître et renovateur de la musique « Chaâbi » (in French). Algiers: La Maison des Livres. p. 149.