Brice Soniano Presents - Reflections String Quintet

The blues of the ice, the strings of hope. Double bassist and composer Brice Soniano presents “Reflections”, a work for string quintet born from the melting of glaciers. Three concerts in December, in Amsterdam, Montreuil and Paris.
Before a single note sounds, there is a colour: the blue of cracking glaciers, of the water carrying them away, of a horizon that refuses to disappear. Soniano found the first spark for “Reflections” in front of a painting of melting ice by the Danish artist Anne-Grethe Kousgaard. “Blue is the colour I identify with most, and I think that's what first resonated with me in the artwork,” he says.
The writing for string quintet sets composed, classical material in dialogue with open spaces for improvisation. The painting's geometric lines, with their symmetries, breaks and reflections, become a way of shaping musical time. The movement titles tell a story of their own: Avant le premier souffle (Before the First Breath), a suspended, almost still space; Les Sirènes (The Sirens), caught between warning and beauty; and Angel Song, a fragile, protective presence.
Climate change sits at the heart of the music, but never as a manifesto. “This piece explores the theme of hope in the face of anxiety about climate change,” Soniano explains. Moving between tension and calm, density and breath, “Reflections” is less about loss than about what endures, and offers a moment of contemplation in a world in upheaval.
The quintet
• Charlotte Basalo Vasquez — violin
• Jeffrey Bruinsma — second violin
• Oene Van Geel — viola
• Jakob Kullberg — cello
• Brice Soniano — double bass, composition