Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP)

Letter No. VWL3606

Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Burghes (OUP)

Letter No.: VWL3606

The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.

March 11 [1932]

Dear Mr Burghes,
I suppose we must give in to Novellos –
With regard to “Mendelssohn” I feel very doubtful whether Walford Davies and Dyson have not infringed copyright, since as far as I can remember, their revision differs from the Mendelssohn original in exactly the same particulars as the Cummings version. I hardly think that Novellos can dare to charge more than a nominal fee – but if they do I suggest that you should obtain for me an undoubtedly non-copyright copy of the original Mendelssohn ‘Festgesang’ and I will make my own arrangement from that.
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams

To:

Burghes, Mr
From:

Vaughan Williams, Ralph, 1872-1958
Scribe:

Vaughan Williams, Adeline, 1870-1951
Names:

English Hymnal Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809-1847 Novello & Co.Davies, Henry Walford, 1869-1941 Dyson, George, 1883-1964
Subject:

Hymns Music publishers Music publishing Copyright
Musical Works:

Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Felix, 1809-1847. Festgesang (1840)English Hymnal
Format:

Letter
General Notes:

This appears to refer to VW’s work for the new edition of The English Hymnal, Catalogue of Works 1933/1.
Location Of Original:

Oxford University Press Archive
Shelfmark:

Music Department, English Hymnal Company, General Correspondence, 1932

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