THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

From R. Vaughan Williams,
10, Hanover Terrace,
Regents Park,
London, N.W.1.

April 4th 1958

Dear Mrs Holbrooke,

It was most kind of you to write.  Please thank your husband for his very appreciative message.  I hope he is better.
I venture to believe that the best way of taking the field for British music is not by propaganda but by writing music which our countrymen will appreciate. This, without doing violence to my own artistic conscience, I always try to do.¹
Thank you once again.
With kind regards from us both
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams

1. The letter is clearly in response to a message from Josef Holbrooke about the Ninth Symphony, which had been given its first performance on 2 April at the Royal Festival Hall by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under Sir Malcolm Sargent.