THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking,

5th January, 1949.

Dear Clive
Thank you so much for your letter.
The fact that you would like to do it is almost enough for me and I quite see your difficulties.  Please keep the libretto as long as you like.  i have other copies.  As you have been so kind as to go through it in detail there are one or two other points I want to ask you.
At the end of Act III, where the Pilgrim is in prison and takes the Key of Promise out of his trouser pocket, is there any chance that it would look comic?  I think anyway it would want very careful production.  Would it be better, possibly, if the Evangelist appeared at that moment and gave him the key?  I do not like that idea altogether, but we must avoid at all costs any risk of a laugh at the wrong place.  Also, further on in the same scene, when the gates are opened, will people say, “Why does the Pilgrim wait and sing a long song when he might be setting out straight away before they catch him again?”.  I do not feel this myself, because the intensity of the dramatic moment has to express itself in terms of length in music, and after all there is the famous case, (I think in “Trovatore”) where the hero leaves his old mother to burn for about five minutes whilst he sings a long song, and nobody seems to mind.  On the other hand, in “Hugh the Drover” – if you remember the original version – they had a big duet just before they escaped and that was strongly objected to by many people, and when I re-wrote it I removed that duet to the end where there is no obvious hurry for them to be off.
If you could spare me a moment to advise me about this I should be very grateful.  I trust your judgment so much, and you are one of the few people who are willing to help me.
Yrs
RVW
(R. Vaughan Williams).

Clice Carey, Esq.,
85, St. Mark’s Road,
London.