Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart
Letter No. VWL459
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart
Letter No.: VWL459
Northern Lights
Sheringham
Norfolk
[About 8th March 1920]
Dear Hart1
It was very jolly to get your letter & to see that you are still alive – I’m sorry for the delay in answering. I was waiting to see if I was likely to be going to London soon & could consult with anyone as to the best stuff to send you. I am so out of all music just at present – especially piano music – but I don’t see any chance of my going at present – so I must try to think of someone else who can tackle the job.
I’m glad to hear MacDonald2 is getting better. We liked them both so much – remember me to him when you see him.
I saw Gustav the other day – his new “Hymn to Jesus” is splendid.3
Yrs ever
R. Vaughan Williams
1. Friend and contemporary of VW at the Royal College of Music.
2. Unidentified
3. VW’s choral class had given a preliminary performance of The Hymn of Jesus with piano accompaniment on 5th March, some three weeks before the official first performance on 25th March. See R.V.W.: a biography, p.136.
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General Notes:
The March 1920 date for the letter is suggested by the reference to Hymn of Jesus. Adeline VW had taken rooms in Sheringham early in 1919 in order to look after her invalid brother, Hervey, in the bracing climate of the East coast and it ws to there that VW returned on demobilisation. VW wrote to Monsieur Louis Fleury on 10th March and to Charles Edward Sayle on 14th March from a different Sheringham address (in the latter asking Sayle to note the new address – see 200314) so a date about 8th March seems probable.
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Shelfmark:MS 2809