David Fanshawe (born 1942 in Paignton, England - 5 July 2010) was an English composer and ethnomusicologist. His work is situated at the crossroads of traditional and modern music [disambiguation needed]. His best-known composition is the 1972 choral work African Sanctus.

Educated at St George's School, Windsor Castle and Stowe School, he started his career as a musician and producer for documentary films. He studied composition under John Lambert at the Royal College of Music. He became widely known with composition of choral works. Besides vocal pieces, he also composed the score for more than 50 films and TV productions.
During a ten-year odyssey across the islands of the Pacific Ocean begun in 1978, he collected several thousand hours of indigenous music, and documented the music and oral traditions of Polynesia, Micronesia and Melanesia in journals and photographs.

He lived in Wiltshire in England, and died on 5 July 2010 from a stroke.

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