22 April, 2021 â By Michael White
Brian Elias
QUIETLY conscientious, unsensational composers arenât the ones who generate attention, but they sometimes get their due acknowledgement. And an example is Brian Elias who, this Saturday, gets his own day at Wigmore Hall â with concerts livestreamed at 11.30am and 3pm (thereâll be no audience present) and access to an evocative documentary made about his life by the celebrated film-maker Barrie Gavin.
Born in India to Iraqi-Jewish parents but discreetly resident for many years just off the Finchley Road, Elias flourished through the 1980s/90s with high-profile scores like his Royal Ballet commission The Judas Tree and pieces at the Proms. But his output is painstakingly careful, which makes new works few and far between.