Rarely do the Riverfront’s monthly lunchtime recitals include a world premiere, especially for the relatively unusual combination of singer, pianist and cellist.

But young composer Alexander Thacker must have been impressed by the way Triptych - Rachel Louise Marsh (soprano), Kirsten Miller (cello) and Philip May (piano) - gave the first performance of his To Eyes’ Fascination, a setting of poems from the Chinese.

Cello, piano and voice together are not difficult to write for, the only problem being how to divide the instrumental forces in ways that don’t make one or the other sound surplus to requirements.

For instance, in Triptych’s own arrangement of the Alleluia from Mozart’s Exsultate, Jubilate, the cello more or less doubles the keyboard part or borrows some of it or sidles up to the vocal line.

But in Thacker’s work, the opportunity is taken to give each one an equally important role in reflecting the peculiar stasis of the text by creating intriguing sonorities and images. It works brilliantly. We’ll hear more from him. The work was dedicated to composer Peter Reynolds, who was present.

Thacker has learned the usefulness of minimalism but eschews its repetitive mannerisms. These are sometimes inscrutable texts, representing a meditative look at the world. They have forced the composer to think in terms of music filling allotted space rather than moving purposefully through it towards some ever-beckoning terminus.

By this time Marsh had stamped her authority on the programme as the forceful and melodious centre of attention, especially in the Gallic Chanson d’Amour by Amy Beach and the Four Songs by André Previn, another who understands that the cello can do more than reinforce the voice. Marsh sounds as though she's destined for the stage as well as the concert platform, which she already occupies.

Songs by Borodin, Purcell and George Butterworth all proved that if the piano in this sort of trio is not going to shoulder the whole instrumental burden, there’s none better than a singing cello to share it. Indeed, much of the emphasis in this programme was on Miller, whose curbed the cellist's natural flamboyance to concentrate on sweetness and generosity of sound.

Triptych's members are graduates of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and have been together since 2012. Last year they joined the Live Music Now! scheme, which takes professional musicians into places where musical performance is sometimes a rarity. This recital, like many other First Wednesday ones, was under LMN's auspices. As well as playing together as Triptych, each pursues a professional career in other ways.