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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL5024 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19550224 February 24th 1955.
VWL5034 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 193510-- [Oct 1935]
VWL5035 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19361012 [12 Oct 1936]
VWL5007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381106 Nov 6 [1938]
VWL5009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19480211 12 [i.e.11] February, 1948.
VWL5022 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19531018 October 18th 1953.
VWL5023 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19531025 October 25th 1953.
VWL5027 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19580724 July 24th 1958.
VWL5029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19430721 July 21 [1943]
VWL5031 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500914 Sept 14 [1950?]
VWL5038 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19490429 [29 April 1949]
VWL5013 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500315 15th March, 1950.
VWL5015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19510117 Jan 17 [1951]
VWL5025 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19560513 May 13th 1956.
VWL5028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19420528 May 28 [1942]
VWL5033 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19351114 November 14 [1935]
VWL5037 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381026 [26 Oct 1938]
VWL5039 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19370919 Sunday [19 Sep 1937]
VWL580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Blackwood McEwen 19260729 [29th July l926]
VWL3254 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19551228 December 28th 1955.
VWL3330 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19580306 March 6th 1958.
VWL3496 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 195603-- [March 1956]
VWL3510 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19571017 [October 1957]
VWL3584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19571014 Oct 14 [1957]
VWL2358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520126 January 26th 1952.
VWL2377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520312 12th March, 1952.
VWL2385 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520325 25th March, 1952.
VWL2292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511101 1st. November, 1951.
VWL3417 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19580119 January 19th 1958.
VWL3599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19571025 October 25th 1957.

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