Delius, by now a dear friend, had completed the Concerto for Violin and Cello for us although it was to be some years before we played it in public. The strange thing was that it was written in unison and technically was almost impossible to play but with Delius himself and Peter Heseltine at the piano, we rewrote the cello part and made it playable. Delius sat for hours with a large cushion and the score on his knees, surrounded by four of our Scottie dogs, who took a great interest in the proceedings and periodically licked his fingers which made him jump, throw everything in the air and have to begin again. Heseltine banged out the orchestral part, while I, hot and anxious, played each passage over and over again until Delius was satisfied that it corresponded perfectly with the violin. All this took weeks but at last it was finished. << less