MOYSES

“Moyses” is a descriptive poem based on the account of the Biblical exodus. The composition has a diversified character, which appears sometimes majestic and sometimes amusing, or obscure and sorrowful. A distinctive feature of this piece is the peculiar use of percussions and sound effects produced with whips, hammers, chains, and foot-stomping to recreate noises and atmosphere of the forced-labor camps where the Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews. According to the tradition, Moses, the son of the Hebrews Amram and Jochebed, escaped the Pharaoh’s persecution thanks to his mother who intentionally abandoned him in a basket floating on the Nile’s water. Saved by the Pharaoh’s daughter, he was raised and educated at the court of the Egyptian royal family. After killing a slave-master, Moses fled to the village of Midian, where he married Zipporah, the daughter of the local priest. The Bible says that one day when Moses was near Mount Horeb, God commanded him to go to Egypt and ask the Pharaoh to deliver his fellow Hebrews from bondage. He went and, eventually, the Pharaoh ordered the Hebrews to leave Egypt after the Ten Plagues, the tenth of which culminated in the slaying of the Egyptian male first-borns. Moses led his people away and they camped near the Red Sea, where, guided by God, he divided the waters so that they could safely pass across on dry ground. When the Egyptian army attempted to follow, God permitted the waters to return upon them and drown them. After traveling for three months, the prophet reached the top of Mount Sinai where he received the Ten Commandments. Then, he punished those among his people who were involved in the sin of the Golden Calf. Finally, once they arrived near the Promised Land, Moses went up to Mount Nebo and there God spoke to him for the last time: “This is the land that I promised to your people. I will give it to your offspring. I let you look at it, but you will not be permitted to enter it.” With these words in his heart, Moses died without ever arriving there.