THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

From R. Vaughan Williams,
The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.

31st May, 1947.

Dear Mr Wright,

I shall be pleased to conduct one of my works at Maida Vale on October 16th.  If it is a symphony, it had better be the London Symphony¹ again; but is a symphony essential?  I should much prefer one of my suites of film music, especially “49th Parallel”² or “Flemish Farm”, one of which has only had a partial broadcast performance and the other only one performance at the Proms.³
Yrs sincererly

R. Vaughan Williams
R. VAUGHAN WILLIAMS.

K.A. Wright, Esq.,
British Broadcasting Corporation,
London, W.1.

1.  Catalogue of Works 1913/5. The work that VW conducted on 16^th October for broadcast on the Third Programme was the London Symphony, as per his initial suggestion. Boult conducted works by Bach and Rubbra.
2.  Catalogue of Works 1940/3.
3.  On the broadcast performance of the suite from 49th Parallel see VWL1603; 49th Parallel was broadcast on the Third on 7 May 1946; this is probably the incomplete performance that VW mentions. On the Promenade Concerts performance of the suite from Flemish Farm, Catalogue of Works 1943/4, see VWL1862 and VWL1906. The first concert performance of the suite was given at a Promenade Concert conducted by VW on 31 July 1945.