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.
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Featured Letter
from Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958 to Martin, James McKay
Letter No. VWL3054
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to J.M. Martin
Letter No.: VWL3054
The White Gates,
Dorking, Surrey.
28th December, 1949
Dear Martin
Thank you so much for your interesting but painful letter.1 I wonder what we can do? That week you describe in Gloucestershire seems to be the right thing. I wish we could extend it to six months. If there is any question of a fund to help on that idea let me know what can be done about it. Also if there is anything else I can do?
Our friend has always been so helpful to me that I should like very much to be able to do something for him.
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams
J.M. Martin, Esq.,
21 Norland Square Mansions,
London, W.11.
1. About Hubert Foss, who had resigned as Head of the Oxford University Press Music Department in 1941 (see VWL1584) and was now in bad health due to stress.
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General Notes:
Martin was a former student of VW at the Royal College of Music and a participant in the Leith Hill Musical Festival. He played a central role in organising the campaign to help Hubert Foss in his illness.
Typewritten, signed; the signature has been cut out and is no longer present. -
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Shelfmark:MS Mus. 1714/1/26, f. 154
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Citation:Cobbe 531
