David Ellis has been a major figure in British music for 50 years: he studied with Maxwell Davies, Birtwistle, Howarth, Goehr and John Ogdon who together formed the New Music Manchester group. He became a BBC producer in 1964 and in 1977 became Head of Music, BBC North. He then left to become Artistic director of the NCO. His main work now is as a CD producer; he has worked for many of the most important labels, initially as a specialist for Naxos. His works for string orchestra are in many ways English pictures but very varied, from lighter accessible works to densely concentrated post-Romantic styles but always with a firm tonality and worthy to be ranked with the string writing of Moeran, Warlock and RVW.