Mitri El Murr

Mitri el-Murr was born in Tripoli (Lebanon) al Meena on November the 7th 1880, as he grew up his father the priest Elias tought him the principles of reading and writing, later on he read the Holy Bible by a blind teacher her name was Refka Kazkala. The beauty of his voice started to show since he was a little young boy and so did his talent in singing and his tendancy to music. In year 1893 his father sent him to Kefteen's school (Lebanon) in the Koura area and he left school one year later. Then he began studying the ecclesiastical music and the Oriental Arabic music with Yousef (Joseph) el Doumani who was a well known teacher and psaltis in Antioch, he was the brother of the Patriarch Maletios el Doumani the second. Young kid Mitri learned the 8 Byzantine modes so quickly and learned to chant them well. They said that when he was 15 years old chanted in the church of Tripoli and he stood infront of his teacher (as a lambadarios or left psaltis). In late year 1896 he went back to Kefteen school and focused on studying language with the linguistic and historian Issa Eskandar Maalouf(1869-1956) and he (Mitri) taught music in in one of that schools classes although he was a young boy, and he composed there a doxology on the Hijaz-Kar Maqam. After the death of Yousef el Doumani, Mitri stayed a psaltis in the Meena Tripoli church (Lebanon). in year 1903 he was appointed by the patriarch Maletios el Doumani to be the music teacher in the theology institute of Balamand's monastery (Lebanon) where he taught student the ecclesiastic hymns according to the byzantine way. Among his students there were students with beautiful voices that became all later bishops, they are Trephen (or Triphon?) Ghrayeb late bishop of lattakia(Syria), Niphon Sabba bishop of Zahle' (Lebanon) and Epiphanios Zayed bishop of Akkar (Lebanon) and Alexandrn Jaha bishop of Homs(Syria) and Ignatios Hrayke' bishop of Hama(Syria) and Samuel Dawoud bishop of New York, an thus we can say that bishops who lead the ecclesiastic chanting during half a century were Mitir students. In year 1907 he got married to miss Nazha the daughter of Dr. Mousa el Doumani and the grand daughter of his master and teacher Yousef el Doumani, they had 9 children, 6 boys: Fuad (which later on he proceeded his father's work and published most of it), Phillip, Auwni, Elias (still chanting till this day), George, Nicolas. and three girls: Salwa, Evet. Zareef. In year1912 he went with the patriarch Grigorios Haddad the fourth in a tour to some places of the patriarchate of Antioch and Mitri was given afterwards the rank of the Protopsaltis of Antioch (I don't think that the word Archon Protopsaltis was used in these days, or if it wasn't well known?!! But Mitri was a Protopsaltis with no Archon- prefix) and in year 1913 the Patriarch Grigorios was invited to Russia to lead the celebrations of 300 years of the Romanov's family ruling Russia, he was accompanied by a huge croud including Mitri and they departed in a ship from Beirout (Lebanon). In Russia the Tsar gave Mitri two medals one of them was the medal of St Anna.. on his way back, Mitri stayed a while in Constantinopole and met some artists that were interested in Byzantine music, in Constantinopole he was appreciated and admired, he also participated in a huge Divine Liturgy where he chanted a Polychronion for the ecumenical Patriarch, as an echo of this visit some of his musical compositions were published in the musical magazine there. In year 1916 he went to Damascus (Syria) and stayed there till the end of the First World War which allowed him to participate in the patriotic movements there, and he was close to the leaders of the Arabic cause back then. After the war he went back to his home city Tripoli (Lebanon) and chanted in the Meena church. In year 1924 he moved with his family to Beirout (Lebanon) and lived there and started doing business, he was appointed by the Bishop of Beirout Yerrasimos Msarra to be the protopsaltis of St Nicholas' church. In year 1930 he traveled to USA after an invitation of friends there and he was warmly welcomed by the Syrian and Lebanese people living there, he was celebrated and honored. One year later he went back home to Beirout and depite his growing business (trading) he kept the hard work in music and composing as well as being the Protopsaltis of St Nicolas' church there, he also taught music in a school there or two. He died on August 31st 1969 aged 89 years old. Some of the medals he got during his life besides those of the Russian Tsar were the medal of St Paul and Peter given by the Antioch patriarch Alexandros Tahhan the third in year 1956, also the medal of St. Georgios by the king of Greece year 1960, plus the Lebanese deserveness medal, also the St Mark medal by the Alexandria patriarchate.