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
VWL4995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederic Wilkinson 19360208 Feb 8th [1936]
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christian Darnton 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL4617 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360131 Jan 31 [1936]
VWL863 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360109 Jan 9 [1936]
VWL3994 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19360101 Jan 1st 1936
VWL4708 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4830 Letter (extract) from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4618 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 1936---- [1936]
VWL4865 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1936---- [1936]
VWL4864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1936---- [1936]
VWL4852 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19351230 [late December, mid 1930s]
VWL1026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19351229 Dec 29 [?1935]
VWL833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19351226 [c.26th December 1935?]
VWL4773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19351226 Dec 26 [1935?]
VWL832 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351225 Xmas day [25th December 1935]
VWL831 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19351224 Dec 24 [1935]
VWL830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351217 [17 December 1935]
VWL4607 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351213 December 13 [1935]
VWL827 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19351213 Dec 13 [1935]
VWL822 Letter from Lady Wimborne to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19351212 December 12th l935
VWL821 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351208 December 8 [1935]
VWL5121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19351203 Dec 3 [1935]
VWL819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351202 [2 December 1935]
VWL818 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Wimborne 19351201 About 1st December 1935
VWL813 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19351128 28 November 1935
VWL812 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19351124 [24] Nov. 1935

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