THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

From R. Vaughan Williams,
The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.

[mid February 1947]

Dear Glover

May I send you this?¹
Yrs

RVW

1.  A circular notice as follows (printed in R.V.W.: a biography, p.274):
Leith Hill Musical Festival
This spring the Leith Hill Musical Festival will rise like a Phoenix from its ashes. Should we not mark the occasion by performances of especial excellence? But to achieve this we must have first rate performers and long and careful rehearsal.
All this will cost money. Fees and expenses have nearly doubled since the war, and if we want good results we must expect to have to spend at least £1,500 on the Competitions and five Concerts, including that healthy off-spring of the Festival, the performances of Bach’s Passion. Of this sum we cannot expect to receive more than £500 by sale of tickets and by Church Collections. We have just over £300 in the bank and we hope for a grant of £40 from the Carnegie Trust. The rest must be met by generosity of our friends and well-wishers.
In the minds of many people Dorking is closely associated with the Leith Hill Musical Festival. Leith Hill itself in all its beauty has now been preserved; may not the L.H.M.F. also be enabled to stand fast?
We have already received over £300 in donations. Will you for the sake of the past glories and future achievements of our Festival, add to this sum? Donations and guarantees may be sent to the Hon. Treasurer, B.P. Bouquet, Pound House, Dorking, or to any of the undersigned. Cheques should be made payable to the L.H.M.F.
Signed

Evangeline Farrer, President and Chairman.
R. Vaughan Williams, Festival Conductor.
B.P. Bouquet, Hon. Treasurer.
Margery M. Cullen, Hon. Secretary.