THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking.

Dec 7 [1933]

Dear Gordon
You put your finger on the chief difficulty of my second Interlude (the scene with Fenton, Anne & chorus) the other day when you pointed out that that scene would require a full stage and would thus make practical difficulties coming immediately before the Falstaff – Quickly scene – And you have probably already anticipated the idea which came to me this morning that this Interlude should be the 1^st scene of Act II – the 2^nd scene would then be the Letter scene and the rest of the act follows as printed.
Am I right in supposing that you would then be able to have a full stage for the Fenton – Anne Scene, followed by a front scene for the Letter Scene during which the stage could be set for the interior of the ‘Garter’[?]  This would have the additional advantage of letting the interview of Quickly & Falstaff follow immediately on the Letter Scene as it really should do.
You have probably thought of all this already and I only write to say that I quite approve.  It would of course involve writing some new music to take the curtain up on this new beginning of Act II – but this I think could easily be done if you wanted it.¹

Yrs

R Vaughan Williams

1. This letter appears to concern amendments to Sir John in Love (Prologue, Episode and Interlude, Catalogue of Works 1928/3a); the Prologue, Episode and Interlude had been added for a performance by Bristol Opera School at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol, in 1933, after the earlier performances at the Royal College of Music. See VWL1121 for more details. All three were published by Oxford University Press in 1936. The year must be 1933 since VW refers to the matter in a letter to OUP received by them on 4th January 1934. See VWL1122.