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
VWL5254 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19510520 20 May 1951
VWL5247 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19470711 July 11 1947
VWL5233 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19190502 2/5/19
VWL5196 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19440802 Aug 2d [1944]
VWL5195 Letter from Adrian Boult to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19390320 20 March 1939
VWL5171 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to J.N. Barran 18940218 Feb 18 1894
VWL5026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19580328 [28 March 1958]
VWL4945 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19120710 [10 July, 1912]
VWL4937 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19110713 13 Jul. [1911]
VWL4931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to H.J.L.J. Massé 191409-- [autumn 1914]
VWL4930 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eric George Millar 19140830 [end August 1914]
VWL4918 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 193----- [1930s?]
VWL4823 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19321225 Xmas 1932
VWL4782 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 19401106 Nov 6 [1940]
VWL4769 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Shaw 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL4768 Letter from Adeline Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310419 Sunday [19 April, 1931]
VWL4696 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Philip Mackay 19571017 [17 Oct 1957]
VWL4693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Lock 19570825 25 Aug 1957
VWL4669 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411127 Nov 27 [1941]
VWL4663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19571207 December 7th [1957]
VWL4646 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 194903-- [March 1953]
VWL4610 Letter from Patrick Hadley and Henry Balfour Gardiner to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19350412 12 April 1935
VWL4556 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19470513 13 May, 1947
VWL4542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 19510511 11 May, 1951
VWL4541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19510429 29 April, 1951
VWL4492 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maja Kjöhler 19090115 [15 January 1909]
VWL4478 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Benjamin Britten 195710-- [late October 1957?]
VWL4430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 195804-- [April, 1958]
VWL4429 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 1955---- [ca 1955]
VWL4375 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Lefanu 19580502 2 May, 1958

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