Simón García: Mali-malist for double bass quartet

About the Composition

Mali-malist is an exciting and vibrant work that is a unique addition to the double bass repertoire. It has energy and spirit, with few technical challenges for the intermediate-advanced quartet. Enjoy!

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 double bass 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]

Mali-malist was premiered at the "Festival au Desert, Presenza dAfrica" in Florence in July 2012 by Alberto Bocini, Anita Mazzantini, Marco Martelli and Simon Garcia. It received its UK premiere at Wells Cathedral School on 8 June 2013 by David Heyes, Nic Lum, Joe Prindl, and Josie Jobbins.

About the Composer

Simón García’s music is lively, jazzy, and rhythmic with great forward momentum and drive. Accessible for players and audiences alike, he writes colorful music of distinction and energy, employing the entire range of the double bass.