THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking,

17th February, 1949.

Dear Lilburn,

Thank you so much for your interesting letter.  I am so glad you have found your feet in your new work.¹  You and Page² together ought to make things hum.
I was much touched by what you said about my “Riders”.³  I have only seen it on the stage once and that was when some students did it at the R.C.M.⁴ several years ago.
Yours sincerely,

R Vaughan Williams

(R. Vaughan Williams).

Douglas Lilburn, Esq.,
Victoria University College,
Wellington, W.1.
New Zealand

1.  Lilburn had been appointed to a full-time lecturer post in music at Victoria University, Wellington.
2. Frederick Page, another former pupil of VW.
3. Riders to the Sea
4. Royal College of Music. The RCM performances were on 30 November and 1 December 1937. The first “public” performance was at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, on 22 February 1938; this letter supports the presumption that VW did not attend it.