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The Observer

The British composer Nicola LeFanu (b.1947) is a key figure in musical life, through her teaching (she was professor of music at York University) as well as through her own substantial catalogue of works. The Path Above the Dunes (Métier) – chamber music by LeFanu performed by Gemini – consists of four works written across nearly half a century. The Same Day Dawns (1974) sets short, sensuous texts for soprano (Clara Barbier Serrano), flute/alto flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, percussion, violin and cello. Sextet – a wild garden – fásach (1996), using the same instruments, with piano, conjures wild places in Ireland. The single-movement Piano Trio (2003) moves from fast and furious to diffuse and mysterious. The Moth-Ghost (2020), a dramatic scena on the death of Achilles, draws on her experience as a composer of several operas. Superbly played and sung, this is music to celebrate and explore.