Welcome to the Vaughan Williams Foundation – one of the foremost sources of funding for recent and contemporary music in the UK
The Vaughan Williams Foundation is a grant-giving charity which upholds the values and vision of the celebrated composer Ralph Vaughan Williams and his wife Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Our principal aims are to honour RVW’s desire to support his fellow composers, and to help make his own work widely accessible to the general public.
VWF was founded in 2022, 150 years after the composer’s birth, and brings together the two charities originally set up by Ralph (RVW Trust) and Ursula (Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust).
FUNDING
Vaughan Williams Scholarships
Congratulations to our four new Vaughan Williams Scholars who have just been announced.
The Vaughan Williams Scholarships of £8,000 each are awarded to applicants who demonstrate exceptional compositional talent and who are intending to make composition their professional career. Scholarships are awarded towards the costs of study of a taught Masters course or PhD in composition at UK universities or conservatoires.
Applications for 2026 will open in December 2025
.
General Funding
VWF supports the work, performance and recording of British/Irish composers from the last 100 years; as well as projects which further the knowledge and understanding of the life and music of Ralph Vaughan Williams, and of the work of Ursula Vaughan Williams.
Applications are now open. Ensembles, organisations and individuals are welcome to apply.
The Foundation also offers annual funding for postgraduate composition students.
RVW
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) is one of the greatest of British composers whose music, generosity and vision for community music making, continue to impact British musical life.
Find out more about the composer and explore our extensive archive of letters and photographs and catalogue of published works.
READ THE LATEST
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Vaughan Williams’ seventh symphony, Sinfonia Antartica, was first performed in 1953. It drew on incidental music the composer wrote for the 1948 film Scott of the Antarctic.
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Do you agree with @ClassicFM’s line-up of the 10 best English composers?
Find out here 👉 https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/latest/10-best-english-composers/
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Vaughan Williams and Holst met at the Royal College of Music, and their friendship lasted until Holst’s death.
Their bond extended beyond personal friendship, influencing each other’s musical styles and approaches.
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
RVW created important works in most major musical genres as well as writing music for film and stage. He championed music-making in the community, was active as a collector of folksongs and, in his reimagining of the English Hymnal, changed the face of British Church music.
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Writers and artists not normally associated with classical music discuss an example of Vaughan Williams’s work to which they have a connection, and why it speaks to them.
Here we hear from Adrian McNally, pianist, composer, producer & band leader: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001cnvs
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
RVW’s letters to his friends, family, pupils and fellow musicians are often frank and full of fascinating insights which give you a glimpse of the man himself.
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Some holiday advice from RVW’s good friend, the composer Gustav Holst, which would apply to many working in the creative industries!
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
“Ralph Vaughan Williams: folk music, the English countryside, and moments of transcendent beauty” – Terry Blain explores the life, times and works of Ralph Vaughan Williams – the ‘grand old man of British music’ for @MusicMagazine
Read the article here: https://www.classical-music.com/features/composers/ralph-vaughan-williams
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
The Lark Ascending has accompanied Dr @rommismith all over the world in her travels as a poet and teacher, reminding her of her Englishness and home, even when, as a Black woman, she is often not ‘seen’ as being English.
Listen to her essay here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001cnwg
Twitter feed image.
Vaughan Williams Foundation
@vwfndn
Our next general funding application deadline is coming up in September. Find details of how to apply via our website 💻
THE LETTERS OF RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Featured Letter
Get to know the man and his music
RVW’s wide-ranging correspondence – with family, pupils, fellow composers, conductors and performers – paints an intriguing portrait of the man, as well as providing fascinating insights into his major preoccupations: musical, personal and political.
Our searchable database includes over 5000 annotated transcriptions of his correspondence all available to read online.
Letter of the Day
Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard Van Dieren
Letter No.: VWL4842
From R. Vaughan Williams,
The White Gates,
Westcott Road,
Dorking.
Sunday [late October 1934?]
Dear Mr Van Dieren
Many thanks for your kind and helpful letter which shows to me the lines on which I should advise Buckland.1 He is indeed a difficult case.
Yours sincerely
R Vaughan Williams
1. John Buckland. VW had written to Van Dieren asking for advice on how to help the aspiring composer; see VWL1321.
