THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

13 Cheyne Walk
Chelsea, S.W.

[?Middle of 1910]

Dear Dent

I was most interested in your  letter.
From our point of view your going w^d be too awful – we can’t afford to lose you – and though there appears to be nothing going which England can offer as an inducement to stay – yet I feel something must come soon &  things at Cambridge will get better – and “if and when” C.V.S.¹ resigns – you ought to be offered the professorship  – whether you will is quite another matter – I suppose this American affair w^d not last  for ever & you c^d come back in 4 or 5 years and take  your rightful position in England.²
On the other hand your scope in Cambridge is enormous – I forget who said that there is no limit to what a man can achieve if he is willing to forego the credit of it – this is just  your case in Cambridge – not that you are without credit – I know well how openly grateful Gibbs, Steuart, D-Brown etc are to you – and myself too – if I may say so.
This is an absurdly impartial letter! I congratulate you on the success of yr concert (10³ was first rate for Cambridge – and the absence of the hewall⁴ gang kept the atmosphere clear of the odour of stale German sausage).
May I have a programme & any notices for my book?
Yrs

RVW

1. Charles Villiers Stanford, Professor of Music at Cambridge
2. Dent had been offered a Professorship in America (see VWL330)
3. Check reading.
4. Check reading.