Composer Elias Rahabni dies at 83: a relentless force that made us laugh

Elias Rahbani was more than just a legendary composer. The Lebanese musician, who is said to have died on Monday at the age of 83, was also a man of humor, joy and unbridled love for others – even those who did not treat him so well.

Rahbani first performed in the UAE in 2014, and the first item on his agenda was to make the audience laugh. He arrived at a press conference with a smile and ignored his son, Gassan Rahbani, when he suggested his father be more serious.

The legendary Lebanese composer was teeming with hilarious anecdotes that kept his audience apart – even when his son pushed him aside to get him back on track.

“Let me make them laugh!” Rahbani exclaimed, looking at Gassan with joy in his eyes. “It doesn’t have to be boring and formal.”

For a classical composer whose repertoire often demanded respect and etiquette, melodies sung by everyone from Fairuz and Majidah Al Roumi to Wadih Al Safi, Rahbani had a jovial, youthful and inviting presence.

“I love others to an unnatural degree,” said Rahbani. “Even those who hurt me.”

Later, he spoke to this reporter for a one-on-one interview, where his gentle and humble spirit shone through.

“My brother Assi raised me because my father died when I was only five years old. So my brothers Assi and Mansour [who are both musicians, part of the renowned Rahbani Brothers] raised me, and at nine, I was already on stage and singing. I understood that there was life, war and poverty, ”said Rahbani.

A medical diagnosis almost kept his music career from taking off. But he refused to leave it.

“My worries started taking me to country clubs to play and I learned the piano the right way. I was about to fly to Russia to complete my studies, but I had bad pain in my right hand. The diagnosis, basically, was that I would have to stop for a year, but I wouldn’t even stop for an hour. So they gave me lessons on my left hand. From there, I started composing and I didn’t look back, ”he continued.

Asked how he keeps his young and humorous mind intact, Rahbani passed on a piece of well-learned wisdom.

“I have a goal in life to make other people happy. Gassan, as you saw at the press conference, kept telling me, “Baba, don’t do it”, but I said to him, “I’m not here to bury someone. I am here to laugh with the others. Because laughter gives me happiness. It’s God’s secret that people don’t know, ”said Rahbani.

“Because the happier you make others, the more you start to feel a certain lightness. Some say that believing in God brings this lightness, but there are those who believe in God and do bad deeds. They pray and then they shoot. I take the path of making others happy.

Rahbani’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed.