The Moth-Ghost

The Moth-Ghost by Nicola LeFanu is a 10-minute dramatic scena for soprano and piano, setting a poem by James Harpur. The work tells the story of Thetis, a sea-goddess of Greek mythology, who knew that her son Achilles must die.

In the poem, she is a grief-stricken mother, mourning his death in the Trojan war. The imagery of the poem and the music is of the sea: the sonority of its turbulence, the rhythm of its tides.

The Moth-Ghost was written for soprano Gabriella di Laccio, who commissioned it with funds provided by the PRS Foundation, and it was premiered by her, accompanied by Clélia Iruzun, on 21 October 2021 at St James Church, Sussex Gardens, London.