THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.

September 20 [1931]

Dear Adrian

How very nice of you to write. I had no idea you were there – I wish I had seen you.¹
It would indeed give me great pleasure to hear you conduct “Job”²  one day.
While I am writing, I want to make a humble suggestion for what it is worth to the Control department.  The controllers seem in concertos and songs to have the old fashioned idea of the soloist first and the rest nowhere.  This is especially so at the Proms – for instance at the Bach concert last Friday in “Schlummert Ein” when the soloist has long holding notes and the orchestra has a beautiful tune against it I heard nothing but the holding note – and similarly in the D Minor Concerto in places where all the themes are in the orchestra & the pfte has only arpeggios I heard nothing but the arpeggios and I do not think this could have been my receiving set because presumably the relative values would be the same on any set.
Yrs

R Vaughan Williams

1. Probably at the performance of Job at Gloucester.
2. Catalogue of Works 1930/5.