Vaughan Williams writes to a Mrs. Cole about arrangements for a matinée concert to be held in Dorking on Jan. 10 at 2:30, suggesting how much time can be devoted to music given that he is to speak for thirty minutes. The letter concludes with a program.

Many thanks for your letter - I should like to have the Bax [English composer Arnold Bas]- but I think we must couple it with something simple + easy to understand. The concert starts at 2.30 + … to be over by 4.15 - I have to talk for … 30 minutes in total - that leaves 70 minutes for music or perhaps 65 allowing for wait. Vaughan Williams goes on to suggest a program with 1. Bach sonata, G minor, 2. Kreutzer 3. short group for the solo, 4. short group [??]

The quintessential British composer Ralph Von Williams whose love of Tudor and Stuart music helped shape his compositional style, is remembered particularly for reviving the British musical tradition, heavily incorporating traditional folk melodies into classical music.

Having stopped composing during World War I, Vaughn Williams produced his first new major work in 1922, the year of this letter: A Pastoral Symphony which had its first performance in May. At this time Vaughn Williams was teaching composition at the Royal College of Music in London.