THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

10 Madingley Road
Cambridge

6/6/19

Dear Miss Longman

Please forgive my being so slow in answering – I feel much drawn towards your scenario – & music, I feel, might quite possibly occur to me for it one day – but one can never be certain – so if you know of anyone else meanwhile who wants to set it straight away he (or she) had better do so. Meanwhile have you a more detailed scheme that I could see.¹
One or two points occur to me – I think the whole thing ought to be quite short & in one scene – one c^d I think arrange this by conventionalising the whole thing and having a double (or triple) stage each one a few steps higher than the other – on the lowest stage w^d be the magician in his little hut – on the middle one the young woman would come on and dance – on the highest one w^d be the trees where the voice is.
Also I don’t quite like the owner of the voice finally appearing – it will take away the mystery – I think it c^d be suggested by a bright light or something of that kind.
I must say once again what enormous pleasure your singing gave me and everyone last Saturday.²
Yrs very sincerely

R. Vaughan Williams

1. The scenario, by Margaret Longman and Angela Hubbard, was entitled The voice in the wood: ‘Through many thousands of years a Voice has been heard singing in the Wood, but no man has ever seen the singer …’ It is clear from VWL468 that VW made a start on the music for this ballet but soon abandoned the project, finding it uncongenial. He used some of the music in the Pastoral Symphony.
2. Margaret Longman was a singer who often assisted VW by providing illustrations  when he lectured on folksong (see R.V.W.: a biography, p.105)