Two cellos: Rohan de Saram and Neil Heyde

Working with Rohan de Saram

Rohan de Saram was one of the great cellists. He left an indelible impression on me when he visited Canberra in the 1980s with a programme that included Xenakis’s Kottos (1977). Playing with him in recent years was one of the great privileges of my life, as was his friendship. His modesty and humour in person will have struck everyone who met him, partly because of the contrast with the stillness, ‘certainty’ and expressive power of his performances. In working closely together, it was deeply touching to see how he approached everything as if encountering the issues for the first time, being as clearly fascinated by the detail of music making in his 80s as you might expect of someone just starting out.

Rohan and I started planning some two-cello concerts in 2019, following a one-off concert at Pushkin House. The only full programme we gave was at the Holywell Music Room in Oxford in February 2020. (A packed hall, with an audience both young and old!) The pandemic then intervened, and now, sadly, he is no longer with us. His musical legacy will endure, of course.

In addition to playing some great music from the past (Offenbach, Glière, Beck) working with Rohan allowed me to do something different with some of my composer colleagues and friends: Richard Beaudoin (whose duo we recorded in 2022), David Gorton, and, from my quartet, Mihailo Trandafilovski (whose other cello duos I have filmed and recorded with my daughter Evie).