Monologue
for viola

The present work was written in 1957 for the Israeli violist-composer Oeden Partos, who gave the first performance on the occasion of Ben Zion Orgad's receiving the "Acum Chamber Music Prize" for his compositions "Out of the Dust". The two works are conceived in similar style and texture; they are based on melodic motives which are derived from Bible cantillation and move around certain centres of tonality. The MONOLOGUE is basically monodic and its rhythmical patterns follow models common to the NEAR-Eastern Arabic world. These models make manicoloured rhythmic changed and variation possible.