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Premiere of the Month: Nick Martin’s new Violin Concerto for Tamsin Waley-Cohen

2025-08-15T09:00:00

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A lyrical violin concerto influenced by a work of art

‘There were three associations that really inspired me,’ says Copenhagen-based composer Nick Martin about Barbara Hepworth’s 1944 Landscape Sculpture. ‘It is shaped like a cradle; it reminds me of a lyre or harp; and of a boat, because the strings are made out of fishing line.’ These elements are combined in Martin’s new Violin Concerto, which concentrates almost entirely on the violin’s lyrical, singing quality. Martin explores the nuances within this lyricism, stretching from ‘dolcissimo to beautiful despair’…

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