Simon Garcia writes "When I received the commission for a new piece for unaccompanied double bass, intended for intermediate players, I knew that I needed to write a work where not only music is important, but useful for learning, too. 'Arabesque' is a free musical form where the music is ornamented. The work is in one movement and uses differents musical modes and moods, always in an accesible language for young students.
I included some technical and musical challenges for the player such as different key signatures, trills, upper mordents, natural harmonics, pizzicato, Bartok and left hand pizzicato, chords, tuplets, glissando, double notes, melodies accompanied with open strings, different dynamics,...always trying to make nice music with these technicals elements.
The result is a work lasting around 3 and a half minutes and only using the first octave of the instrument."
Bassist and composer Simon Garcia 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.
Simon Garcia has composed more than thirty works for double bass, ranging from two to six 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, and some of his music was used as teaching material in the 2011 ISB Year of Collaborative Music.
Simon Garcia's music is lively, jazzy and rhythmic with great forward momentum and drive. Accessible for players and audiences alike, he writes colourful music of distinction and energy, employing the entire range of the double bass.