Queer Tears
for string quartet
(2021)

duration: 8 minutes
Commissioned by Nordic String Quartet

Martin composed Queer Tears in the summer of 2021, while visiting his parents in Cornwall. The piece is purely abstract in conception, but the constant glissandi throughout made him think of tears — whether responding unconsciously to the screeching gulls outside, or to something more personal. There is a deliberate ambiguity in these cries, which is reflected in the title; Martin use the word 'queer' here in the sense of odd or unusual.

“There are some sonic marvels here: UK-born, Copenhagen-based composer Nick Martin...the delicate, deeply emotional Queer Tears, played with enormous sensitivity and also strong definition by the Nordic musicians.”

— David Kettle, The Strad