Most people would nowadays associate Sir Henry
Wood with the Royal Albert Hall via the Proms
concerts. In 1938, though, when the Proms were
still performed at the Queen's Hall, a Jubilee
Concert was held for Sir Henry at the Royal Albert
Hall, and it was for this event that Ralph Vaughan
Williams composed the "Serenade to Music." Setting
a passage from Shakespeare's Merchant of
Venice, Vaughan Williams created a unique
piece for sixteen individual voices, identified by
their initials in the score.
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