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
VWL1614 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19411226 [26 December 1941]
VWL1612 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411225 Xmas Day [25th December ?1941]
VWL1450 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19411218 Dec 18 [1941]
VWL1610 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19411218 Dec 18 [1941 ]
VWL1604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19411217 Dec 17 1941
VWL1606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Tippett 19411217 Dec 17 [1941]
VWL1603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Isaacs (BBC) 19411216 Dec 16 1941
VWL1601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19411213 Sat: [13th December 1941]
VWL1599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19411210 Dec 10 [1941]
VWL1597 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Acland Allen 19411207 Dec 7th [1941]
VWL1594 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19411205 Dec 5 [1941]
VWL4064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Misses Piper 194112-- [December] 1941
VWL1592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Myfanwy Jones 19411130 Nov 30th [1941]
VWL1591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Isaacs (BBC) 19411127 Nov 27 [1941]
VWL1590 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19411122 Sat [22nd November 1941]
VWL1588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19411117 Nov 17 [1947]
VWL1589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19411117 [?17 November 1941]
VWL4997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19411117 Nov 17 [1941]
VWL4022 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19411117 Nov 17 1941
VWL1587 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult at the BBC 19411113 13 Nov 41
VWL1586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19411112 Nov 12 [1941]
VWL1584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19411106 Nov 6 [1941]
VWL1583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19411102 Nov 2d [?1941]
VWL1552 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194111-- [Early November 1941]
VWL1551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 194111-- [About November 1941]
VWL4987 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19411020 Oct 20 [1941]
VWL4515 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19411019 Oct 19 [1941?]
VWL3658 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19411016 16th October 1941
VWL1582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19411016 Thursday [16th October 1941]
VWL4512 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19411016 Oct 16 [1941?]

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