THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

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

November 21st., 1951.

Dear Frank

1. An ex-pupil of mine, Mrs. Glatz (formerly Helen Hunter) wants to make an arrangement for her string orchestra of my Hymn Tune Prelude on Song 13.¹  She is a very good musician and I feel sure would do it well. Would you please give your leave? Perhaps if you and I both approved of her arrangement you might consider issuing it. I think it might be useful.
2. As regards Mr. Carleton Smith—certainly let him have “Watchful” song, but make sure that the copy is mine and not my copyist!
3. As regards performances of P.P.³  in Cathedrals or halls I think we ought to do nothing until after the first performance of the new version at Covent Garden. After that I think it might be free to anyone.
4. I notice a slight error in my preliminaries for P.P.. In Act IV after the word “Soprano” for the Wood-cutters boy you ought to add, in brackets, “or boy treble.”
Yrs

R. Vaughan Williams

1. Hymn Tune Prelude on Song 13 by Orlando Gibbons, Catalogue of Works 1930/3, written for Harriet Cohen. On Helen Glatz see VWL3358.
2. Frank had just written to VW saying that Carleton Smith had raised the matter of purchasing a manuscript of VW’s again (see VWL2270) and had suggested he should be sent the piano score of the added ‘Watchful’s Song’ from “The Pilgrim’s Progress” (Catalogue of Works 1951/1) since it was ready to hand at Oxford University Press.
3. The Pilgrim’s Progress. In fact VW maintained his opposition to performances of Pilgrim other than in the theatre for a long time after the first production.