THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

From R. Vaughan Williams,
10, Hanover Terrace,
Regents Park,
London, N.W.1.

August 1st 1954.

Dearest Betty,

Your tune came through splendidly on our set.  It is a good work, and your new staccato basoon¹ passage certainly improved it.  We heard you recalled twice, and then the horrid machine shut off, but I expect it was a lot more.²
Did you see the paragraph about you in the Evening News on Friday?
Love from

Uncle Ralph

1.  sic.
2.  Elizabeth Maconchy’s Concertino for bassoon and string orchestra had been performed at the Promenade Concerts on 30 July. Gwydion Brooke made a BBC studio recording of the work in 1953 with the Goldsbrough Orchestra (later renamed the English Chamber Orchestra) led by Emanuel Hurwitz and conducted by Edric Cundell. The first public performance was at 9.15 on Beethoven Night at the Promenade Concerts on 30 July, broadcast on the Home Service.
The Evening News report (syndicated to the Liverpool Echo and probably many more newspapers),under the heading “Music Mother”, described Maconchy as an Essex housewife with two children, the concertino having been written at snatched moments between the family washing, cooking and mending.