Simón García: A Summer's Day for Soprano & Double Bass Quartet

About the Composition

Words by William Shakespeare

A simple and chordal accompaniment contrasts the lyrical and sinuous vocal line, which explores a wide vocal tessitura. The colourful and supportive double bass accompaniment creates an atmospheric and evocative backdrop for the soloist to explore a range of moods and idioms expressed within the text.

"I wrote 'A Summer's Day' for Bass-Fest 2013, and it is dedicated to David Heyes and Sarah Poole. I had never written for voice before and to know that Sarah (soprano) would be performing at Bass-Fest seemed like a good opportunity to write my first piece for voice and double bass quartet. Looking for a text I found the wonderful and beautiful sonnet by William Shakespeare and started work.

Written in a tonal language, I tried to portray when the verses were written, including the loneliness of the author while writing it. Love and melancholy, Shakespeare is thinking of his lover while writing these beautiful words, possibly looking to the far horizon from the author's room." [Simón García]

A Sonnet's Day also exists in a version for soprano and piano and was premiered at Bass-Fest 2013 (The Silk Mill, Frome, Somerset) on Sunday 4 August 2013 by Sarah Poole (soprano) and Mark Cracknell (piano).

A Summer's Day for soprano & double bass quartet was premiered at Wells Cathedral School (Somerset, UK) on 29 September 2013 by Sarah Poole (soprano), David Heyes (double bass), Ben Groenevelt (double bass), Jim Rintoul (double bass) and Joe Prindl (double bass).

About the Composer

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 Coruña.

Simón García 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.