Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer
Letter No. VWL4395
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer
Letter No.: VWL4395
13 Cheyne Walk
S.W.
July 7th [1908]
Dear Lady Farrer
Please forgive my not answering your letter before – I have only just come back from abroad.
Please thank your committee very much from me for their kind message. It was nothing but pleasure to be associated with such a splendid performance of the Bach as the choirs gave on May 13th. It was a hazardous experiment trying anything so difficult – but we really triumphed.
I feel on these occasions that it is the local conductors who do not get their due. I know what the grind must be of preparing a work like ‘Sleepers wake’ – especially in the beginning stages and what courage it requires to persevere to a goal which is so very far off. It is a comparatively easy task to step in at the last minute and reap what one has not sown.
Please tell the conductors of the various choirs that I (and everyone) fully realize that without their devotion & musical knowledge our success would have been impossible
Yours very sincerely
R. Vaughan Williams
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General Notes:
The letter is not in its original envelope, but in an envelope postmarked April 25 [19]08. A reply in shorthand is noted the verso of the letter.
VW first conducted ‘Sleepers wake’ at the Leith Hill Musical Festival in 1908; year assumed to be this occasion. -
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Shelfmark:8853/2/4
