Richard Pennycuick wrote:

>I quickly did a mental check of some well-known C19 and C20 English
>composers and found Sirs Edward, William, Arthur, Malcolm and so on.
>There were others who missed out, for whatever reason - ...  But surely
>Vaughan Williams and Holst would be on most people's list of great British
>composers, but neither got to be knighted.  I imagine VW would not have
>been keen to keep saying, "It's pronounced RAFE!", but I remain intrigued.
>Is there a story here?

Our grumpiest Uncle Rafe refused a knighthood (as he also refused the
post of Master of the King's/Queen's Music) when he was sounded out about
the possibility.  Holst is a different story:  in truth, the composer's
greatest fame came after he died.  There is generally a story behind the
awarding of gongs in the UK:  they tend to come down with the rations to
critical favorites (Birtwistle, say) regardless of talent; but more public
artists tend only to get them when they fall on hard times (Arnold is the
classic eg here).

All the best,
Robert Clements <[log in to unmask]>