THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking,
Surrey.

9th March, 1949

My dear Harriet,

Please forgive a dictated letter, but it makes me more legible.
I was so sorry to hear of your accident but I feel sure that you will soon be using both hands as merrily as ever, and will have no need for one-handed pieces^.1
I shall be most interested to hear the records of the Hymn Tune Prelude.²
Yours sincerely,

R. Vaughan Williams

(R. Vaughan Williams).

Miss Harriet Cohen, C.B.E.,
8, Gloucester Place Mews,
Portman Square,
London, W.1.

1.  Cohen had fallen while carrying glass and had cut her right hand badly, as a result of which Bax wrote her a Concertante for left hand and orchestra. [OWN]
2.  VW is referring to Hymn Tune Prelude on ‘Song 13’ by Orlando Gibbons, CW 1930/3, of which Harriet Cohen gave the first performance on 14 January 1930 at the Wigmore Hall. The recording in question was made on 4 December 1947 and was originally released on Columbia DX 1552. It can be heard on the CD set of all Cohen’s solo studio recording issued by APR, catalogue APR 7304.