THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

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

[18th November 1938]

Dear Mr Steed

Many thanks for your letter – I should not like to pronounce for a pupil against her teacher¹ – I think the rule would be that the words should be sung just as in speaking – treating the note values fairly freely.
There is one point however where most singers go wrong – they break thus
Deep in the sunsearched growth the dragonfly² hangs//
like a blue thread³
– this to my mind spoils the phrase – I prefer the break⁴ after “dragonfly”.
I’m so glad your boys like my Te Deum – most people don’t.⁵
Yours sincerely
R. Vaughan Williams

1.  Mr Steed’s wife who had been the pupil of J.E. Hutchinson, teacher of Kathleen Ferrier.
2.  VW originally wrote ‘butterfly’ both here and below but corrected himself.
3.  From ‘Silent Noon’ (Catalogue of Works 1903/2)
4.  Originally ‘the break should…’ but this was deleted in favour of the more subjective statement.
5. It is not clear to which setting of the Te Deum VW refers; possibly the recently composed Festival Te Deum.