String Quartet No.4 was written for the Camilli Quartet who gave the first performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, April 1995. It is dedicated to the memory of Nyman's composition teacher, Alan Bush.

This quartet isanarrative made up of a chain of twelve complete but often cross-related movements, each quite simple in design. For instance, the Scottish melody first heard in the second half of I is hinted at in the 2nd violin/viola inthesecond fast section of II and is directly quoted...