THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

Royal Bath Hotel
Bournemouth

25 May 1914

Dear Lady Farrer
I write, I hope in time for your committee meeting, to congratulate the 1st. Div: on their singing – and especially to thank them for their really beautiful performance of my Carol Fantasia – it was the best performance I have heard. I say this advisedly. I do not mean to say that I have not heard others which were perhaps technically perfect – but in none have I ever heard anything like so much of the real spirit and intelligence as the 1st div. choirs put in to their performance.
One always notices an improvement in the singing from year to year – but this time the stride seems to me to have been much greater than ever before and I think that every one felt this as strongly as I did.
Once again I want to thank the choirs and the conductors for all the hard work and drudgery which they must have gone through to make such a successful result.
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams