Music for Strings and Hammers consists of two movements for violin, double bass, and piano. The first, called Nails, is often brittle and seemingly ready to crack open, as might happen by hammering nails into a fragile surface. The second movement is called Heart, and it suggests longing, as if being pulled out a fragile place by the heart strings, through the cracks. Both movements explore the register distance between the string instruments, as found in the music that begins Heart, and throughout there is attention directed to the change, in this piano trio, that occurs when an expected cello is replaced by the double bass. Music for Strings and Hammers was composed for the trio “Strings & Hammers,” who gave the premiere performance on November 23rd, 2016, in Madrid.