THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

25th January 1938.

Dear Dr. Vaughan Williams,

I cannot tell you the gratitude I feel that you should write me so kindly regarding my request. I do not for a moment however propose that this work of yours should be written as an ode to myself, for I would like it to be a choral work that can be used at any time, and for any occasion. I would not think of asking you to write a work that might only be used the once, which would naturally be the case were it written round myself.
Perhaps for such a work you already have many poems by you.¹
With kind regards,
Sincerely yours,

[Henry J. Wood

1.  VW decided to set the words from The Merchant of Venice Act V Sc 1 (‘How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!’) as the Serenade to Music.