THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

From R. Vaughan Williams,
The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.

[Early November 1939]

Dear Imogen

I find I never answered about the SPGS masque¹. 
(a) It ought to be published – but the words will have to be modified to suit general occasions.
(b) what about OUP – or if you think they were not friendly enough to Gustav’s work Curwen. 
While I am about it I want to discuss “Wandering Scholar”²
– I want a more definite end
– Husband brandishes a whip & says to wife “go & wait for me upstairs” – then turns to scholar & invites him to drink meanwhile singing a version of his original song.
– This will involve new words from C.B.³ & a modification of existing music by you – This can all be fully explained in a preface (not a foreword)
Love from

RV

1.  The vision of Dame Christian, op.27a, H101. Dame Christian was the mother of  John Colet, Dean of St Paul’s, the founder of St Paul’s School. The masque, with words by Frances Gray, was written for St Paul’s Girls’ School and at this time was restricted to being performed by them. It has remained unpublished. See Imogen Holst, A thematic catalogue of Gustav Holst’s works (London, 1974).
2.  Holst’s opera, op.50, H176, written in 1929-30. It was based on an incident in Helen Waddell’s book The Wandering Scholars. See Imogen Holst, A thematic catalogue of Gustav Holst’s works (London 1974). The opera was eventually edited by Imogen Holst and Benjamin Britten and published in 1971.
3.  Clifford Bax, author of the libretto of  The Wandering Scholar.