THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking,
Surrey.

9th February, 1949.

CONFIDENTIAL.

Dear Mr. White,

Thank you very much for your letter. My first re-action to your suggestion is that my Opera¹ is absolutely theatrical and could not be played anywhere outside a theatre. Certainly if I had written with a view to a performance in a Cathedral I should have done it very differently. For instance, in the nave of a cathedral any procession or entrance would take about three times as long and would want three times as much music. Also it should be much more of a pageant.
Secondly, I cannot see my opera without scenery and a curtain to rise and fall. The scenery could be the merest suggestion but, for instance, in the scene where the stars come out, the whole scene demands some form of realism there. Also the orchestration, which is now finished pre-supposes the accoustics² of a theatre, and I very much doubt whether it would be successful in a big building like a cathedral.
However, as you suggest it seems to be either that or nothing, so I do not want to absolutely turn it down and I should very much like to have a talk with the theatrical producer who has actually produced drama in a cathedral and see if, as it stands, it is possible.
Further, I feel that if it is first done in a Church it will remain there for evermore and will never get to a theatre.
If it is done in a Cathedral at all I think I should prefer Chichester as being much easier of access for me.³
Thank you very much for all the trouble you are taking.
Yours sincerely,

R. Vaughan Williams

1.  The Pilgrim’s Progress (Catalogue of Works 1951/1).
2.  sic.
3.  It is interesting that the persistent suggestion that The Pilgrim’s Progress was more suited to a church performance than to the theatre was being made as early as this. VW continued to resist the idea – see VWL2220 to Dent, VWL2236 to Foss and VWL2245 to Boughton.