Also available in a version for bassoon and piano (reduction).

These are two elegies for dear friends who left this life just before and during their composition.  Threnody is a long chanting bassoon line in antiphony with string chorales, commemorating the fruitful and varied life of Mary Criswick, well known early-music singer, guitarist, writer and superb copyist of contemporary music, who died in Paris;  Brief Candle dances, fitfully, especially in the string parts, and expresses my abiding affection for Jocelyn Shardlow, my first-ever girlfriend, celebrating a particularly emotional day at the Dome of Discovery in 1951.  Jocelyn died in Sussex soon after returning from many years in the Caribbean.

The work was first performed by Linda Begbie, bassoon and the RNCM New Ensemble directed by Mark Heron at Manchester University on 24th November 2009.