Midwest Mahjar: The Recorded Sounds of the Arabic-Speaking Diaspora in the United States at 78 RPM

  Mitri el-Murr: An Antiochian Orthodox Cantor Visits the United States Young Mitri-el Murr. Courtesy of Jack Rabah. Antiochian Orthodox priest and cantors churned out more than their share of 78 rpm discs from the 1920s to the 1950s. These included compositions and/or performances by Rev. Agapios Golam , Metropolitan Germanos Chehade , Archbishop Samuel David , and Rev. Ilyas T. Kurban . Arguably the most commercially successful of these was Metropolitan Germanos Chehade, the defiant archbishop known widely for his musical talent and one of Baidaphon’s leading religious singers. Mitri el-Murr or “Mitri eff. El-Mourr” stood out as arguably one of the most prolific composers and vocalists to headline on Baidaphon and record in the Byzantine tradition. Long the focus of students and scholars of Greek, Arabic, and Byzantine chant, scholars debate his legacy, the originality of his compositions, and the ways to best reproduce his work as he intended. Nevertheless, his 78 rpm recording...