THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

13 Cheyne Walk
SW3

Feb 14th [1926]

Dear Burnaby,¹

The full score of “O.K.C.”² is now published.  I have not a copy by me but will have one sent to you.
You will remember that last time the orchestra was the weakest part of the show.  (indeed the only weak part).  The music is harder than I realized as I have discovered lately when rehearsing with a first rate professional orchestra.
I think that if the C.U.M.S.³ play it you you should insist on their best players and a certain amount of professional help; I think at least 8 professional players chiefly for the solo wind parts.⁴
Yours sincerely

R. Vaughan Williams

1. Later Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge
2. Curwens had published the fiull score of VW’s ballet Old King Cole in 1925.
3. Cambridge University Musical Society
4. The ballet was to be revived in June 1926 in aid of the Cecil Sharp Memorial Fund. See Michael Kennedy, Catalogue of Works p.96.