Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent

Dear Dent

Any of these dates will suit me - but preferably the end of April or the beginning of May - the end of April is rather early perhaps to get things in train - However I see that May 6th & 10th are bad because of Clara & Henschel.¹
If the concert comes off I sh^d like to have Elwes - the pfte 5tet & the string 4tet - in fact go the whole hog while we are about it - unless that w^d be too long.
It w^d pan out
Pfte 5tet                         30 minutes
Song cycle .                    20 -----
Str 4tet                           25 -----
A small group of songs.  10 -----
                                      -----------
                                      85 mins

Of course the old arrangement holds good that anything above your proposed £30 I am responsible for - unless by any chance you get it all back - which is not likely.
I will telephone Elwes tomorrow & see what dates he has free. If there is no objection to May 6th or 10th² will you wire me.
Yrs
RVW

P.S. On the whole I prefer May 6^th - if you think Clara on the 5^th will not be an objection.

1. Presumably Dame Clara Butt and Sir George Henschel.
2. Presumably the Butt/Henschel engagements referred to above were in Cambridge and could be seen as an undesirable clash. The concert took place on May 6th - see VWL360.