Bassist and composer Simón García was born in Mugardos (Spain) in 1977 and graduated in double bass from the Conservatorio Superior of Salamanca. He has worked as a double bassist in the Royal Orchestra of Galicia, having also performed in many orchestras throughout Spain, and is the bassist in the Symphony Wind Orchestra of A. Coruna. He has collaborated with many musicians and ensembles, particularly in the field of contemporary music, and has recorded and performed on many commercial recordings and for television and radio broadcasts.
Simón has composed more than sixty works for double bass, ranging from one to twelve players, alongside transcriptions of these pieces for various chamber ensembles. His music has been performed in Mexico, Venezuela, Uruguay, Denmark, Spain, Japan, Italy, Austria, Germany, Canada, USA, and UK by The Bass Gang, Bass Instinct, and Il Quint-etto amongst others.
Mali-malist is an exciting and vibrant work that is a unique addition to the cello quartet repertoire. It has energy and spirit, with few technical…
Mali-malist is an exciting and vibrant work that is a unique addition to the cello quartet repertoire. It has energy and spirit, with few technical challenges for the intermediate-advanced quartet. Originally for double bass quartet, it transcribes beautifully for cello ensemble, quartet or larger forces.
“Mali-Malist is a word game mixing Mali and minimalist. I wrote this piece for a “Festival au Desert, Presenza dAfrica” in 2012 where I played with the women singers group Tartit from Mali. A civil war had broken out in Mali and with this piece, I wanted to pay tribute to the Malian people. I wrote it as a kind of war documentary, like the background music for a TV news program. The feel of the music is minimalism and chill-out, but with a reflective message. The slow glissandos for cello 3 (bars 41-48) describe the sound of the war siren.
The traditional music of Mali is repetitive music, and over this idea, I wrote a piece with a minimalist feel. I used other elements of Mali´s music such as a monotone and rhythmic bass line. It´s a high-energy piece where I try to make the audience feel what Mali´s people feel when the war siren starts to sound.” [Simón García]
