Search the letters

The Vaughan Williams Foundation has made over 5000 items freely available: chiefly letters from Ralph Vaughan Williams, but including some responses which shed light on the subject matter, and also a number of letters from Adeline and Ursula Vaughan Williams. These provide further information and often include messages or observations from Ralph, and there are also letters from Adeline and Ursula written on behalf of the couple. The text of letters written by RVW and UVW remain the copyright of the Foundation.

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The letters are in tabular form and can be sorted by column, or filtered by any keyword including name, musical title, year or subject (singly or in combination). Partial matches will also be found, e.g. searching “sky” will also find “Stravinsky”. To search for a phrase use inverted commas, e.g. “New York”.

To search by letter number, include the prefix VWL, e.g. VWL123.

Filter letters

Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL4192 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19560718 July 18th. [1956]
VWL4191 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19560715 July 15th [1956]
VWL3351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560708 July 8th 1956.
VWL3350 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560707 July 7th [1956]
VWL3349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19560706 July 6th 1956
VWL4247 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19560703 July 3rd 1956.
VWL5072 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19560702 [Monday 2 July, 1956]
VWL3348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560701 July 1st 1956.
VWL3347 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560701 [1st July 1956]
VWL4195 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 195607-- [July, 1956]
VWL3498 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 195607-- [Late July 1956?]
VWL4194 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 195607-- [July, 1956]
VWL3345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19560628 June 28th 1956.
VWL3344 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560627 June 27th 1956.
VWL4246 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19560620 June 20th 1956
VWL3343 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560616 June 16th 1956.
VWL3341 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19560614 June 14 1956
VWL3342 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Gray 19560614 June 14 1956
VWL3414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19560610 June 10th 1956.
VWL3415 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19560610 June 10th 1956.
VWL4169 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560610 June 10th 1956.
VWL3413 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560603 June 3rd [1956]
VWL3412 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19560602 June 2nd 1956.
VWL3411 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19560531 May 31st 1956.
VWL3410 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19560527 May 27th 1956.
VWL3409 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19560524 [24th May 1956]
VWL3408 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560522 May 22nd [1956]
VWL3406 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dora Foss 19560520 May 20th 1956
VWL3407 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560520 May 20th 1956.
VWL4168 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19560520 May 20th 1956.

You have never lost your invention but it has not developed enough.  Your best – your most original and beautiful style or ‘atmosphere’ is an indescribable sort of feeling as if one was listening to very lovely lyrical poetry.

GUSTAV HOLST letter to RVW 1903

He was one of the most 'complete' men I have ever known. He loved life, he loved work and his interest in all music was unquenchable and insatiable.

SIR JOHN BARBIROLLI, conductor

I was thunderstruck by the symphony last night - and hadn't expected to be. Jagged, pulsating and angry, from that very first clanging dissonance - how can it have come from the same source as the Tallis Fantasia?

AUDIENCE MEMBER, Newbury Festival