Adrian Shepherd

Adrian Shepherd, who has died aged 74, was principal cellist of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra during the burgeoning travels and adventures of the Alexander Gibson period, but it was as founder of Cantilena, the cello-led chamber ensemble he directed as a sideline in concerts of baroque and renaissance music, that he won international acclaim.

Though its performances, starting in the 1970s, were not what would be hailed today as historically informed, the players - most of them key members of the parent orchestra - brought exuberance and beauty of tone to everything they touched. As a result, they went down in history as the RSNO's first major splinter group. When Shepherd eventually resigned from the orchestra itself (reputedly after a dispute with Gibson's successor Neeme Jarvi) Cantilena continued to thrive under his leadership.

Born in Upminster, he studied at the Guildhall School of Music in London with the great William Pleeth, famed teacher of Jacqueline Du Pre. After graduating with numerous prizes, he did army service in Germany and joined the RSNO as a back-desk cellist in the early 1960s. He moved briefly to the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra before rejoining the RSNO as principal cellist, a position he held for 20 years. In 1967, he took part in the orchestra's first major European tour from Vienna to Rotterdam, playing the exposed cello solo in the finale of Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony in some of the concerts.

An intensely self-critical player, he rose to the challenge of this, just as he did to that of Brahms's Double Concerto and the various Vivaldi concertos he played with the orchestra in Scotland.

But it was his work with Cantilena that really satisfied him. This, growing out of the experience of performing with the Orpheus Trio, was something he had always desired. After months of private rehearsals with his chosen players, he went public with a pair of scintillating debuts in Edinburgh and Glasgow - Aberdeen was added later - powering his fellow players through season after season of exhilarating concerts that established the ensemble's quality and its name (which was an Italian word for lullaby).

Despite slight initial opposition, the players gradually won the acceptance of the RSNO management, so long as their activities did not conflict with orchestral schedules or with audience support for the orchestra's main concert season. Cantilena's trump card and principal justification was simply its excellence. Its repertoire skilfully mixed antique rarities with forays into Haydn and Arne. It was one of the first British groups to recognise the catchiness of Pachelbel's Canon, which soon became its signature encore.

Sonority, rather than style, was its priority. The players, sitting in a circle and gazing into each other's eyes, clearly savoured the rich sounds and textures that could be produced by an intent handful of strings, with woodwind soloists (Richard Chester on flute, Susan Tyte on oboe) to provide variety of timbre, and they keenly communicated their enjoyment to their listeners. Though none of them played baroque instruments, they did what they did conspicuously well.

Soon, like the parent orchestra, they found themselves recording for Chandos - Corelli concertos, Boccherini symphonies, Boyce overtures - and widened their itinerary to include trips to the Scottish Highlands and a daring visit to South America.

But the good times did not last. Money grew tighter and the group went into disarray. Yet Shepherd's career expanded in other ways. Already he had become professor of cello at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Scottish Conservatoire of Scotland) and for five years he held a similar appointment in Wales. By the turn of the century he had re-established Cantilena with the Scottish violinist Angus Ramsay and, financially supported by malt whisky distilleries, created a summer Cantilena festival on the island of Islay.

Adrian Shepherd was awarded the MBE in 1983 for services to chamber music. He was married three times, firstly to Elspeth Davidson, then to his fellow player Susan Tyte, and finally to Jennie Moore. By his first wife - the only one who survives him - he had two children and four grandchildren. He died of cancer in Sussex where, in his last years, he ran three amateur orchestras.

CONRAD WILSON