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 Western, Joan
Letter No. VWL805
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western
Letter No.: VWL805
From R. Vaughan Williams,
The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.
Oct 18 [1935]
Dear Mrs Western
We shall have to be move carefully with Davison – He is quite right in saying that we do not want American publicity methods.1
McKenzie is a good man but a bit of a vulgarian (between 4 walls!)
I shd feel inclined to write to Davison & emphasize that we do not want American ‘publicity’ in this – but if he cd devise anything short of this we shd be very grateful.
My own feeling is that we are so near our £16002 that we can do without “boosting”
Yrs very sincerely
R. Vaughan Williams
1. See VWL799.
2. The number is not entirely clear. It may be £1000 or even £600.
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General Notes:
Joan Western was secretary of the Gustav Holst Memorial Fund. Year from context.
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Shelfmark Copy:MS Mus. 1714/1/9, f.56
