This work was inspired by a short cartoon about a monk hunting a little fish. The fish, not being a willing victim engages the monk in a comic caprice of escape and escapism. Finally, after a long battle, the two fly into the sky together.

In order to communicate each element of the story, Von der Nahmer has assigned a unique role to each instrument. Through short and static notation on the piano, violin, viola and cello, he aimed to create a new kind of percussive instrument, without using a drum or other percussive instruments. Von der Nahmer's piece is then a complex composition creating modern rhythms with traditional instruments.

The Monk and the Fish is intended to be as much fun to perform as it is to listen to, and since its debut in 2003 at the concert 'Chamber Music to Pictures' in the Carl Orff Auditorium (Munich), has become something of a showpiece.