Simón García writes: “The Origins is the second part of my Californian Duett, both works inspired by rock music but in very different ways, and I thought about the origins of rock music as I composed it. The introduction describes how the slaves are brought to the New World from Africa in enormous galleys, with many dying during the journey. The sound of the traditional slave meetings, playing drums in ancestral rituals, will eventually be mixed with the sounds and music of Old Europe.

I tried to write a piece for two double basses that is not like a conventional duo. In the first part of Californian Duett I wrote a melody, bass line and harmony-rhythm parts in two voices, using the entire range of the instruments.”

The Origins is dedicated to Andrés Martín and Jeremy Kurtz-Harris who gave the premiere on 26 August 2013 in Mexico, at a workshop organised by Contrabajos de Bajo California, and received its UK premiere on 29 September 2013 at Wells Cathedral School (Wells, Somerset) by David Heyes and Ben Groenevelt.

Solo Parts – both parts use the file marked ‘Page 1’ as the first page (score format) and then move to the individual part.