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The book comprises a selection of some 750 letters of the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, selected from an extant corpus of about 3,300. The letters are arranged chronologically and have been chosen to provide a cumulative pen-picture of the composer in his own words. In general the letters reflect VW's major preoccupations: musical, personal and political. It was not VW's way to discuss his inner creative processes but he does discuss his music, once it had been
written: for example there is much to illustrate the process of 'washing the face' of his major pieces before, and after, they had reached the concert platform. There is correspondence with
collaborators such as Gilbert Murray, Harold Child and Evelyn Sharpe who provided texts; with his publishers (mainly OUP) about printing scores and parts; with conductors such as Adrian Boult and John Barbirolli about performances. He was in regular correspondence with fellow composers such as Gustav Holst, George Butterworth, Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Alan Bush and Rutland Boughton. There were his pupils: Elizabeth Maconchy and Cedric Thorpe Davie amongst others. A series of
close personal friendships is well represented: his Cambridge contemporary and cousin Ralph Wedgwood, Edward Dent, and latterly Michael Kennedy. Above all there are insights on his lifelong devotion
to his first wife, Adeline, and his growing friendship with Ursula Wood, who was to become his second wife.
The book comprises a selection of some 750 letters of the composer, Ralph Vaughan Williams, selected from an extant corpus of about 3,300. The letters are arranged chronologically and have been chosen to provide a cumulative pen-picture of the composer in his own words. In general the letters reflect VW's major preoccupations: musical, personal and political. It was not VW's way to discuss his inner creative processes but he does discuss his music, once it had been
written: for example there is much to illustrate the process of 'washing the face' of his major pieces before, and after, they had reached the concert platform. There is correspondence with
collaborators such as Gilbert Murray, Harold Child and Evelyn Sharpe who provided texts; with his publishers (mainly OUP) about printing scores and parts; with conductors such as Adrian Boult and John Barbirolli about performances. He was in regular correspondence with fellow composers such as Gustav Holst, George Butterworth, Gerald Finzi, Herbert Howells, John Ireland, Alan Bush and Rutland Boughton. There were his pupils: Elizabeth Maconchy and Cedric Thorpe Davie amongst others. A series of
close personal friendships is well represented: his Cambridge contemporary and cousin Ralph Wedgwood, Edward Dent, and latterly Michael Kennedy. Above all there are insights on his lifelong devotion
to his first wife, Adeline, and his growing friendship with Ursula Wood, who was to become his second wife.
ForewordMichael Kennedy:
Preface
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1: Earliest letters (c.1895) to the Outbreak of the First World
War: 1895 - 1914
2: From the beginning of the First World War until the Move to
Dorking: 1914 - 1929
3: From the Move to Dorking until the Outbreak of the Second World
War: 1929 - September 1939
4: The Second World War: September 1939 - May 1945
5: From the Second World War to the Move Back to London: June 1945
- 15 September 1953
6: From the Move Back to London until VW's death: 15 September 1953
- 26 August 1958
List of Sources
Bibliography
Index of Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams
General index
Hugh Cobbe joined the British Museum Department of
Manuscripts in 1967, where he was a curator of manuscript music and
maps. After the department passed to the British Library, he was in
due course Head of Publications in the Library for seven years
before being appointed Head of Music Collections in 1985, a post
which he held until 2001. He was then made Head of British
Collections until his retirement. He was for 16 years a Trustee of
the Britten-Pears Foundation and was President of the Royal Musical
Association 2002-2005. He is Deputy Chairman of the R.V.W. Trust
and a Director of the Vaughan Williams Estate. He was appointed OBE
in 2003 for "services to libraries."
`Review from previous edition [a] splendid book'
Diana McVeagh, Times Literary Supplement
`essential for anyone interested in the wider cultural history of
Britain in the first half of the twentieth century. It makes
fascinating reading and OUP has done us all a service... It
deserves to sell in hundreds of thousands.'
Piers Burton Page, International Record Review
`This handsome book has been the labour of love for Hugh Cobbe over
many years... and he is to be warmly congratulated on the
achievement... undoubtedly a required reference work to keep within
reach.'
Rolf Jordan, Finzi Friends Newsletter
`exemplary scholarship... the volume greatly amplifies our
understanding of V.W.'
Bayan Northcott, BBC Music Magazine
`For anyone with specific areas of study, not least any number of
compositions, this volume is required reading.'
Andrew Green, Classical Music
`the editor has done a superlative job... By uncovering much fresh
material, clarifying and correcting the work of previous editors,
and generally bringing Vaughan Williams and his works vividly to
life, Letters of Ralph Vaughan Williams joins the handful of
standard reference books that are essential reading to anyone
interested in this composer's music.'
Julian Onderdonk, Project Muse
`The letters themselves provide a fascinating insight into Vaughan
Williams's wide-ranging interests'
Ruth Hellen, Brio Volume 46
`Hugh Cobbe has done a superb job both in his footnotes and in his
selection and the result is a fitting half centenary tribute to a
truly great man...Anyone interested in Vaughan Williams will need
to have these letters.'
Simon Heffer, Telegraph
`excellently produced... a joy to handle. Cobbe has also written a
splendid introductory essay for each section of these letters.'
Lionel Pike, Fontes
`Cobbe has provided scholars with an invaluable resource'
Ceri Owen, Tempo
`Six chronological groups are separated by upheavals of war or
changes of residence, and Cobbe prefaces each with an elegant and
efficient explanatory essay that summarizes the letters import and
sketches contemporaneous events.'
Anthony Barone, Music and Letters
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