Boult was extremely sparing with conventional markings on his scores, always believing them to be unnecessary if the score had been learned thoroughly by the conductor in the first place. This makes the annotations of his Vaughan Williams scores all the more interesting as many of the markings stem directly from the composer and are described as such (usually with ‘RVW’ next to them). They derive from discussions with the composer either during meetings or at rehearsals, and – for most of the symphonies – from comments made by Vaughan Williams at the sessions for the Decca recordings. Boult was an assiduous spotter of misprints and in some cases made exhaustive lists of them, for instance on his copy of the miniature score of Job. Boult’s annotations provide fascinating evidence for the composer’s thinking or rethinking about particular works and movements (even for something as important as the speed of the last movement of the Sixth Symphony). The annotations discussed here do not include occasional indications of bowing. It is suggested that anyone consulting these lists should do so with copies of the relevant scores to hand. The annotated scores described below include all the symphonies, the Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Flos campi and Job.

A Sea Symphony

Full score [1924]: Stainer & Bell Ltd., 58 Berners St., London W1. 4 vols (one for each movement), folio, music on pp. 3–323 (continuous pagination), plate number S. & B. 3036. Each volume signed ‘Adrian C. Boult / 1924’ on the front cover.

This was the score Boult used for all his performances. Apart from his handwritten performance list, there are several interesting annotations. On the page listing the orchestration, Boult has noted ‘Misprints 61, IV 219’. Both of these have been corrected in the score: p. 61, bar 3, chorus basses, rhythm for ‘a spi-ri-tu-al’ changed in red pencil from misprinted version to 1920’. The title page inscribed: ‘To Adrian Boult / from R Vaughan Williams’. There are minimal markings by Boult apart from a few bowings. On p. 79, five bars before Fig. D: above vn 1 Boult has written ‘(vibrato)’, and at the foot of the same page ‘very little daylight’.