THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

The White Gates,
Dorking.

6th July, 1949.

Dear Mr Herbage,

Thank you for your letter.  I am glad to think that there is a possibility of your making “Pipers Guild” a feature in “Music Magazine” in the autumn.
I meant to have sent the name of the Secretary to you, but suppose I forgot, it is:
Miss Calthrope,
Shepherd Standing,
Pinkneys Green,
Berks.

My term as President of the Guild has finished and Boyd Neel has succeeded me, so he is the person to do your preliminary talk for you.¹
Yours sincerely,

R Vaughan Williams
(R. Vaughan Williams).

Julian Herbage, Esq.,
52, Basildon Court,
Devonshire Street,
London, W.1.

1. RVW had been President of the Pipers’ Guild since 1933. The Guild had had a few outings on the Home service in the 1930s, and three broadcast performances in the 1940s. It featured in the BBC Music Magazine on 8 January 1950, presumably as a result of this correspondence; the spokesperson was the founder and leader Margaret James, who knew VW well (see VWL1576). This seems to have been the Guild’s last appearance on the radio.