THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

68B Belsize Park Gardens
London N.W.3.

21st March 1948

Dear Vaughan Williams,

I have just heard the Partita on the wireless, and was able to listen to it with a more detached mind than yesterday and the day before. And I can now say quite objectively: I simply love your Partita. (If this is a contradiction in terms, it is nonetheless the truth). When you first told me that you would dedicate the work to me, I could hardly believe my ears. Now I want to thank you with all my heart for this sign of your friendship. The dedication would have made a man of great merit and fame proud. To me it means much more: it makes me happy and gives me more self-confidence than any so-called success could do.
Hubert Foss has just said such clever things about your music. There is an urge in me to add something to it, especially about the Partita. But this afternoon the words will not fit my thoughts, and I better turn now to the German version of Sancta Civitas.¹
Yours

Robert Müller-Hartmann

1.  Check Tim’s copy recently given him by UVW (5/93).