Handel/Halvorsen, Passacaglia with Patrick Savage

This video is a radical departure from my usual cello loop-pop. ‪@violinsavage‬ Patrick Savage is an Australian born London based MEGA VIOLINIST. His formidable CV has things like "leader of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra" and "composer of feature film scores" on it. He is a proper virtuoso in the traditional sense and could be a raging egomaniac due to his massive talent, but instead he is a gentle, kind, unassuming soul who quietly goes about his business, being legendary at the violin. I met him playing in West End Theatre pits and I couldn't believe my luck that I had an opportunity to play with him. I've written a post about why playing with him has been such a big deal for me on my insta @rachaellandercello but for now I'll just say this: lots of you know that I have a complicated history with playing the cello because of how my brain is wired. I have a CV that includes "alcoholism and addiction, years of undiagnosed neurodivergence, huge performance anxiety". Because of this, my playing career has not taken a straightforward trajectory and this YouTube channel, even when dormant, has served as a little pocket of the internet where I haven't had to contend with the constraints of traditional classical performance and I can be 100% myself, playing what I want, with no agenda whatsoever. It has taken years in recovery and working in the music industry to feel confident enough to record something a) classical and b) not filtered through a DPA mic and a loop station and put it out into the ether. Patrick asking me to record this was a gift, the fact that I could turn up to do it clean and sober is a miracle even though I've been in recovery a long time, and I am SO PROUD OF IT. Patrick has many beautiful videos of his playing on his channel, @violinsavage and his work is on his website, www.patricksavage.com. This was shot like many of my looped videos by another humble mega talent, Ryan Watson and recorded more beautifully that I could have imagined by Adam Khan.