 Elwes became the foremost English-born performer of the Brahms "lieder" in the first decades of the 20th century.In January 1907, he made a singing tour of Germany which included Berlin, Munich, Leipzig, Frankfort, and Cologne, giving recitals with Fanny Davies (a celebrated pupil of Clara Schumann's).He sang mixed programmes, but his performance of German "lieder", and especially of Brahms, in German, was greatly admired.