THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

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

Aug 31 1940

Dear Miss Thackeray¹
Many thanks for your letter. I do not pretend that I am “above” liking appreciation from those whose judgment I value. So thankyou very much for all you write. I am glad you like the Finale the best, I am inclined to agree with you. On the whole I do not like the work any more as a whole – though I believe I meant it all when I wrote it.
Ol age has brought a quieter method in what I am now writing (probably you would not like it so much!)
After all one has to write as one feels – and if it is all right so much the better, if not so much the worse. I hope we shall have the pleasure of meeting personally one day.
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams

1. Possibly Anne Wynne Thackeray, an amateur musician who supported the City Concerts for Children, and had built a music room in the grounds of her home in Cumnor. The letter was donated to the Royal College of Music by Charlotte Chesney, whose mother was Anne M. Thackeray.