Once did I breathe another's breath, for baritone & piano
Electra Mourns, for mezzo-soprano, english horn & string orchestra
The Indian-born British composer Brian Elias began his career as a follower of the serialist Elisabeth Lutyens, and he has continued to pair rigorous harmonic development of a tonal core announced at the outset with a keen dramatic sense and a feel for text-setting. His works have been performed in high-profile situations such as the BBC Proms, but aside from the small NMC label series of which the present release is a part, recordings of his work have been sparse. This one will give a sense of his music. Electra Mourns, ...
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The Indian-born British composer Brian Elias began his career as a follower of the serialist Elisabeth Lutyens, and he has continued to pair rigorous harmonic development of a tonal core announced at the outset with a keen dramatic sense and a feel for text-setting. His works have been performed in high-profile situations such as the BBC Proms, but aside from the small NMC label series of which the present release is a part, recordings of his work have been sparse. This one will give a sense of his music. Electra Mourns, setting texts by Sophocles, has been rightly hailed and garlanded with awards. It's sung to the hilt here by mezzo-soprano Susan Bickley, with able support in the difficult honking wind parts by the Britten Sinfonia under Clark Rundell. To get started with Elias, though, you might sample one of the unaccompanied songs of Meet Me in the Green Glen. Elias knits the texts by John Clare together with melodies that, though not tonally organized, make themselves clear to the listener with...
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