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7/26/2019 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
2 0 1
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7/26/2019 Algunos Nuevos Manuscritos Descubiertos de R. v. Williams
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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
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