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.

Searching:
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
VWL3423 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560915 Sept 15 [1956]
VWL3418 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580116 [16 January 1958]
VWL3390 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580202 [2 February 1958]
VWL3380 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560904 [4th September 1956]
VWL3371 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560828 28.8.56
VWL3352 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560711 [11th July 1956]
VWL3346 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560629 [29 June 1956]
VWL3332 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580226 [26th February 1958]
VWL3304 Letter from Ursula and Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580415 [15 April 1958]
VWL3303 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580426 26th [April 1958]
VWL3302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580502 2.5.58
VWL3301 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580514 [Before 14 May 1958]
VWL3287 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580612 [12 June 1958]
VWL3276 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580708 [8 July 1958]
VWL3273 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580724 [24 July 1958]
VWL3268 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580814 [14 August 1958]
VWL3264 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560131 [31st Jan 1956]
VWL3223 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19551113 [13th November 1955]
VWL3210 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Royal Musical Association 19551022 [22 October 1955]
VWL3209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19551022 22nd October 1955
VWL3208 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19551022 [22 Oct 1955]
VWL3198 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19550918 September 18th [1955]
VWL3196 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Margaret Keynes 19580909 September 9th, 1958
VWL3150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19490909 [9th September 1949]
VWL3132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19491018 Tuesday [18th October 1949]
VWL3126 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19510521 [21 May 1951]
VWL3115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19541225 Xmas 1954
VWL3084 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550424 [24 April 1955]
VWL3045 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Parry Jones 19510513 13 May 1951
VWL2923 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hiromichi Koike 19531208 December 8th 1953 

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