ABOUT THE LETTERS
Ralph Vaughan Williams’s correspondence - with his friends, family, pupils and fellow musicians - paints an intriguing portrait of the man, as well as providing fascinating insights into his major preoccupations: musical, personal and political.
The VWF database includes transcripts of over 5,000 items of annotated correspondence, fully indexed and searchable, which can all be read online. It includes all the letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams known to the editors and is an ongoing project. Find out more about the database.
The text of letters written by Ralph Vaughan Williams remains in the copyright of the Vaughan Williams Foundation and may not be further reproduced without the prior written consent of the Foundation.
Featured Letter
from Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958 to Cohen, Harriet, 1895-1967
Letter No. VWL3230
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen
Letter No.: VWL3230
From R. Vaughan Williams,
10, Hanover Terrace,
Regents Park,
London, N.W.1.
November 26th 1955.
My dear Harriet,
Thank you very much for you letter. I am writing to Adrian Boult pressing the claims of Arnold’s third symphony. I fear I cannot break my rule never to push my own work, who ever plays it.
Thank you for your beautiful playing in Cork.1
Yrs
R Vaughan Williams
& love from Ursula.2
1. In October the VWs had been to University College, Cork for VW to give the first Arnold Bax Memorial Lecture, founded by Harriet Cohen. Cohen gave a Bax recital on Sunday 16 October, the day after VW’s lecture, which also inaugurated the Bax Memorial Room. See R.V.W.: a biography, pp.366-367.
2. In UVW’s hand.
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To:
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From:
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Scribe:
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Names:
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Subject:
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Musical Works:
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Format:
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General Notes:
Typewritten, signed.
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Location Of Original:
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Shelfmark:MS Mus. 1648, f. 71
