Brian Elias: Music for Strings Castalian Quartet, Natalie Clein, Danny Driver, Thomas Kemp, Sophia Rahman, Ann Beilby

• Brian Elias (b. 1948): String Quartet:
• 1 Elias: String Quartet: I 06:29
• 2 Elias: String Quartet: II 06:03
• 3 Elias: String Quartet: III 02:38
• 4 Elias: String Quartet: IV 04:06
• L’Innominata (for cello and piano):
• 5 Elias: L’Innominata (for cello and piano) 11:35
• Of Elutropia (for solo cello):
• 6 Elias: Of Elutropia (for solo cello) 10:42
• Duo (for violin and piano):
• 7 Elias: Duo (for violin and piano) 06:27
• Three Scherzi (for violin and piano):
• 8 Elias: Three Scherzi (for violin and piano): I 04:05
• 9 Elias: Three Scherzi (for violin and piano): II 09:28
• 10 Elias: Three Scherzi (for violin and piano): III 03:06
• But when I sleep (for solo viola):
• 11 Elias: But when I sleep (for solo viola) 04:08
• Total Runtime 01:08:47

Info for Brian Elias: Music for Strings

Signum Classics is proud to release an album of string works by the award-winning composer, Brian Elias. Spanning almost half a century, this survey of Brian Elias’s chamber music for strings arose from a retrospective staged in 2020 by the Music@Malling festival in Kent. His first album on Sig- num, it is released alongside ‘Music for Wind’ and will be launched at Music@ Malling in September 2024. The album artwork is by celebrated artist Anish Kapoor.

“Amply gifted as an orchestral composer…purified intensity, immediacy and unrestrained lyricism” (Paul Griffiths, The Sunday Times)

Castalian Quartet:
Natalie Clein, cello
Danny Driver, piano
Thomas Kemp, violin
Sophia Rahman, piano
Ann Beilby, viola

Brian Elias
"Amply gifted as an orchestral composer.....purified intensity, immediacy and unrestrained lyricism". Paul Griffiths, The Sunday Times

"Brian thoroughly deserves to be recognised as one of the most impressive and consistent composers working today, both in large-scale works and smaller pieces – his standards never falter.” Jane Manning, soprano

"Though he writes little...what he produces is immaculately achieved. Every inflection tells, the balance of sound is exact, and the sound seductive in the best traditions of glamorous 20th century orchestral writing.” Paul Driver, The Sunday Times

Brian Elias was born in Bombay, India, and has lived in the U.K. since he was thirteen years old. After studying at the Royal College of Music he undertook private studies with Elisabeth Lutyens. His first major orchestral work L'Eylah was premiered at the BBC Proms in 1984. He has since had his works performed and recorded extensively by leading orchestras and soloists including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Britten Sinfonia, Psappha Ensemble, Jane Manning, Roderick Williams, Nicholas Daniel, Natalie Clein, Leonard Elschenbroich, and the Jerusalem Quartet.

His monumental Five Songs to Poems by Irina Ratushinskya was premiered in 1989 and secured his reputation as one of Britain's preeminent composers. Elias collaborated with Kenneth MacMillan on his final ballet The Judas Tree, premiered in 1992 at the Royal Opera House. The Judas Tree has subsequently been revived on numerous occasions by the Royal Ballet and toured internationally. He has won two British Composer Awards - the first for his 2010 work Doubles, and the second for his 2013 work Electra Mourns. Recent highlights include a 2021 Wigmore Hall retrospective and the premiere of his Piano Trio by the Rautio Piano Trio.

He has taught composition at the Royal Academy of Music and the Purcell School, and his students have included Joby Talbot and Darren Bloom. His works are published by Chester Music.

Booklet for Brian Elias: Music for Strings