Evidently RVW is satisfied with leaving us in the dark on the correct dating of his composition. Still, he copies Bach closely enough to justify the effort of checking his barcode for names as well. And as the 1904-dating depends on the use of the Alphabet as Bach knew it, this is the version to try first.
1 A 4 D 7 G 10 K 13 N 16 Q 19 T 22 X
2 B 5 E 8 H 11 L 14 O 17 R 20 U=V 23 Y
3 C 6 F 9 I=J 12 M 15 P 18 S 21 W 24 Z
Bach himself managed to include, together with his own number, that of the king. The eight pieces completed at 7-7-1747 cover 319 bars, being the average of 312 (319-7): ‘Friedrich Rex von Hohenzollern’, and 326 (319+7): ‘Koenig Friedrich von Hohenzollern. The figures to look for first therefore are:
214 Ralph Vaughan Williams 285 Albert Edward of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
162 Vaughan Williams 230 Edward of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
52 Ralph 91 King Edward
58 RVW or maybe 114 Prince Edward
28 2 x 14 for copying Bach 52 Edward
Evidently the partsongs provide no corresponding number of bars, while the 112 bars leave no space to imitate Bach’s trick. And switching to the modern alphabet seems to make no difference. A search for authors is the next step; but nothing in Sweet Day refers to George (55) Herbert (73), and the numbers of William (74) Shakespeare (103) do not embellish O Mistress Mine or Willow Song. The latter is signed 100 bass notes in 33 bars instead:
Francis Bacon
—
—
go to next chapter – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – back to the previous chapter