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
VWL124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 1909---- [1909]
VWL221 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19081111 Nov 11th [1908]
VWL163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 190811-- [November 1908]
VWL4395 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19080707 July 7th [1908]
VWL162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190803-- [Early March 1908]
VWL161 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190803-- [Early March 1908]
VWL158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 190801-- [January 1908]
VWL159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 190801-- [?January 1908]
VWL160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190801-- [?January 1908]
VWL5215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Sidgwick 1908---- [probably 1908 or later]
VWL157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190712-- [December 1907]
VWL156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190712-- [December 1907]
VWL4322 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19071118 Nov 19th 1907
VWL4381 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 190711-- [after November 1907]
VWL155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 190711-- [November 1907]
VWL220 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Delius 19071030 [After 24 October 1907]
VWL219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Delius 19071024 Oct. 24th [1907]
VWL154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190710-- ?October 1907]
VWL153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190708-- [?Summer 1907]
VWL4461 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19070703 [3 Jul 1907]
VWL834 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Florence Maitland 190707-- [?July 1907]
VWL218 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 19070603 [3rd June 1907]
VWL152 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 190706-- [?After 3rd June 1907]
VWL151 Draft notes by Ralph Vaughan Williams relating to Cecil Sharp’s English Folksongs (London 1907) 190705-- [?May 1907]
VWL150 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 190705-- [After April, 1907]
VWL215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joanna Hadley 19070301 [early March 1907]
VWL217 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19070106 Jan 6th 1907
VWL122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs W. Hadley 1907---- [1907?]
VWL3630 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to ? Cecil Sharp 19061127 27 Nov 1906
VWL216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19061126 November 26 [1906]

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