Algunos Nuevos Manuscritos Descubiertos de R. v. Williams

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WORKING WITH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

S O M E N E W L Y D I S C O V E R E D M A N U S C R I P T S

Roy Douglas

IN tbe Autumn of 1988 tbe British Libr ary

published Working with aughan Williams^

my

account of eleven years spe nt as musical

assistant to tbe composer, and of tbe friendship

which grew up between us during that time.

Tbe volume prints in full seventy-fo ur letters

written to me by Vaugban Williams, in ter-

woven witb an explanatory commentary and

personal narrative;

it is

illustrated with ex am-

ples of some of tbe manuscripts and docu-

ments from wbicb I bad to work.^

Since publication, furtber relevant material

bas come

to

ligbt,

and I

have been able

to

add

tbis

to tbe

Britisb Library's

now

extensive

collection of manuscripts of Vaugban Williams.

As well as the additional letter^ (printed in full

below), tbere are tbirty-two pages of queries^

relating to the Eighth Symphony (composed in

1953-6). Part of my job was to provide legible

copies of Vaughan W illiams's scores, in tbe

process tidying

up tbe

kind

of

erro rs often

found in manuscripts written out in tbe beat of

composition, not to mention puzzling out bis

sometimes illegible handwriting.

Tbe

many

complications involved in tbis simple sounding

task are described in tbe book.) Wben direct

consultation was not possible, I would send

tbrougb tbe post hsts of queries, written ou t on

music paper, concerning doubtful-looking de-

tails in his scores, such as discrepancies of

sbarps

or

fiats, adjustments

of

dynam ics,

and

sometimes corrections of actual notes which

looked wrong to me. V aughan W illiams w ould

scribble his replies on these sheets and return

tbem

to me.

It was possible to illustrate Working with

aughan Williams

witb a page from the

of the Eighth

of the problems

in tbe letters bad been solved (plates 6,

7),

but I bad

thought that

all the

query sheets

for this symphony

bad

been lost long ago,^

so

this is a particularly w elcome discovery. Som e

of the com poser's replies (often themselves

barely legible) are typical of his wry sense of

humour at his own expense. For example, three

small queries about apparently wrong notes

were briefly answered thus:

Wbat tbe devil tbe E is doing tbere I cannot

imagine

I cannot remember wbat I meant but I tbink I prefer

F sbarp.

I am

a

bloody fool.

Trb pt

sbd b e...

Inadvertently be bad written a note for the

piccolo which was below its compass; he

confessed to making tbis tiny error, declaring

witb humorous self-reproach:

As before I am a bloody fool - I knew that perfectly

- pure carelessness (Dr Jobnson)

In response to my doubts concerning some

Italian words, be assured me:

Yes I believe tbat is correct Italian - after consulting

several dictionaries

-

do you know any live Italians

At a climax in tbe last movement be had

written a glissando - a vigorous sweeping of the

hammer to and fro - across the tubular bells. I

pointed

out

that this might result

in a

full

D

major scale being used, rather than the five-

note scale whicb be wanted, and I proposed an

alternative. Also I warned him that tbe

glissando migbt 'drown everytbing else' . The

replies to my suggestions were w ritten in a

particularly spidery example of his ' caco-

grapby ' bis own word for bis band writing).

Wben at last decipbered, his comm ents were

found to be optimistic, though not entirely

confident:

I understood tbat tbe bell merchant only bangs up

tbe bells be wants wbicb will (wd ? make tbe gliss

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feasible - otherwise we must ado pt your suggestion

- I will risk total immersion - Ive never beard tbe

bells enougb yet in any music

A couple of perplexit ies in the las t movement

needed decis ive e lucidations from tbe com-

poser . Eacb of these concerned a passage

in

tbe

ull

score wbicb was one bar sborter tban tbe

corresponding passage in his short score (a kind

of piano sketch). In each instance I asked him

if be want ed to insert tb e missing bar in tbe full

score. For tbe first of tbese problems bis

solut ion was f irm and concise:

No,

we will leave it out wbat I originally meant I

cant remember.

In answer to my query on the second of these

passages, b is laconic (and surely tongue-in-

cbeek) verdict was:

Keep as in score - tbe less of tbis mov ement we bave

tbe better

Tbe le t ter , dat ing from 1953, provides

furtber evidence of Vau gban W ill iams's

tbougb tfulness and generosity to otb ers in bis

comments on my work in drawing up an

orcbestral suite from bis 1949 cantata

Folk

Songs of the Four Seasons}

I t a lso docum ents

tbe final stages in tbe minor but fascinating

story of bis eventual acceptance of the correct

form of tbe name for bis Seventb Sympbony.

Tb e le tter is in Vaug ban W ill iams's band

tbroug bout, and is wri t ten on paper printe d

wi tb b is address of T b e W bi te G a tes , D ork ing .

Jan 5 1953

Dear Roy

Here are your notes witb my comments

As regards tbe title I feel tbat you bave put sucb a

lot of work into it tbat tbe cbief credit ougbt to be

yours - so I am proposing to tbe OUP tbe title

Roy Douglas

Folk songs of tbe four seasons

Suite for orcbestra

founded on tbe Cantata of tbe same name by

R. Vaugban Williams

By tbe way tbe pundits bave discovered tbat

' An tartic a' is correct Italian - so I bave bad to climb

down

Yrs

RVW

From a comparison between tbis letter and

tbe rest of our correspondence it becomes clear

tbat altbougb Vaughan Williams was aware of

tbe Italian form

Sinfonia Antartica,

be was

persuaded to abandon his preferred

Antarctica

only at the very last moment:^ tbe first

performance of tbe sympbony was given by the

Halle Orchestra, under Sir John Barbirolli, at

the Free Trade Hall in Manchester on 14

January 1953.

I am grateful for tbe help of Arthur Searle, Curator

of Music Manuscripts at tbe Britisb Library, in tbe

preparation of tbis article.

1 Roy Douglas,

Working with Vaughan Williams

(London, 1988). Tbis is an extensive revision

and expansion of my

Working with R. V. W.

(London, 1972).

2 Now BL, Add. MS. 63547 A, f 63*.

3 Now part of Add. M S. 65533, wbicb also

contains similar material relating to Act iii of tbe

opera

Pilgrim s Progress

and to Vaugban Wil-

liams's arrangement for cborus and orcbestra of

Tbe Old Hundredtb Psalm Tune.

4 Similar query sbeets for tbe Nintb Sympbony

are in Add. MS. 50382; see Working with

Vaughan Williams., pi. 10.

5

Folk Songs of th Four Seasons,

Suite, arranged

for small orcbestra from tbe cantata of tbe same

name, by Roy Douglas (London, 1956); see

Working with Vaughan W illiams, p. 41.

6 Ibid., p. 52; Micbael Ken nedy,

The Works of

Vaughan Williams

(London, 1964), p. 322.

3

Algunos Nuevos Manuscritos Descubiertos de R. v. Williams

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