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
VWL1075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330803 [3 August 1933]
VWL1078 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19330810 August 10 [1933]
VWL1080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193308xa [August 1933]
VWL1081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19330623 23 June 1933
VWL1082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 193303-- [March ?1933]
VWL1083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Keith Falkner 193303-- [About March 1933]
VWL1084 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 193303-- [Early March 1933]
VWL1085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 1933---- [About 1933?]
VWL1086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19330815 August 15 [1933]
VWL1087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330824 [24 August 1933]
VWL1088 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330827 Sunday [?27th August 1933]
VWL1089 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr. Bridgewater (BBC) 19361009 Oct 9th [1936]
VWL1090 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19361010 Saturday [10th October 1936]
VWL1091 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19361010 Oct 10th [1936]
VWL1092 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19361015 Thursday [15th October 1936]
VWL1093 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19361022 [?22 October] 1936
VWL1096 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330923 [23 September 1933]
VWL1097 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19330923 [About 23rd September 1933]
VWL1098 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330925 [25 September 1933]
VWL1099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331001 [About 1 October 1933]
VWL1100 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331014 [14 October 1933]
VWL1101 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19331016 [16th October 1933]
VWL1102 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331016 [16 October 1933]
VWL1104 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19331019 Oct 19th [1933?]
VWL1105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cuthbert Bates 19331022 Oct 22d [after 1933]
VWL1106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr. Bridgewater (BBC) 19361025 Sunday [25 October 1936]
VWL1107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19361118 [18th November 1936]
VWL1108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19361123 [23rd November 1936]
VWL1109 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19361127 [27th November 1936]
VWL1110 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361207 Dec 7 [1936]

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