PDF version of Melachim by Micah Mooney

Solo for Unaccompanied Cello

Melachim, Hebrew for “Kings” (מלכים), chronicles the biblical kings (and queen) of Judah from around 930 to 586 B.C. This piece seeks to capture the cyclical nature of the book of Kings from the Hebrew Bible (divided into two books in Protestant and Catholic Bibles). Each gestural group represents one ruler’s time on the throne, temporally proportionate to the length of their reign. The legacy of each ruler, whether generally positive, generally negative, or mixed, is presented stylistically, and all of the rhythmic and intervallic material is generated from the Hebrew spelling of each name.

Video: https://youtu.be/wb83PIuVr8I