“An Awful Responsibility” (1930–1936)

Abstract

The 1930s saw Vaughan Williams’s reputation at its zenith. His new works were eagerly anticipated and often highly acclaimed—particularly his Symphony (No. 4) in F Minor and his ballet Job: A Masque for Dancing—he was named the Mary Flexner Lecturer at Bryn Mawr College in 1932, published his lectures from that period as the collection National Music in 1934, and received the Order of Merit, Britain’s most prestigious royal honor, in 1935. Yet he still doubted his own abilities and, despite his many successes and accolades, felt as though his creative aspirations had still gone unrealized. Additionally, the tragically early death of Holst—one of the few truly intimate friends admitted to his own creative world—undoubtedly deepened his own self-critical tendencies. By now financially comfortable, he was able to pursue creative opportunities that he found particularly engaging, whether for amateur performers (such as those involved with the Leith Hill Musical Competition), personal friends like Harriet Cohen or Henry Ley, or significant commissions for events like the Huddersfield or Norfolk and Norwich Festivals, even though the grueling pace of work began to take its toll on Vaughan Williams’s health and well-being.