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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL1073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361009 Friday [9 October 1936]
VWL1138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19370123 [23rd January 1937]
VWL2797 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19540302 March 2nd 1954.
VWL3178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19490615 15th June, 1949.
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360802 [2 August 1936]
VWL970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360809 9 August 1936
VWL757 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350712 July 12th 1935
VWL766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350816 August 16th [1935]
VWL801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350929 Sunday 29 Sep [1935]
VWL1369 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19380811 Aug 11 [1938]
VWL4059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 1937---- [1937?]
VWL1110 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361207 Dec 7 [1936]
VWL1112 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19361220 December 20 [1936]
VWL4575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Morgan 19530817 August 17th 1953
VWL2467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19520917 17th Septr. 1952
VWL2855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19481208 8th December, 1948.
VWL2883 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19541104 November 4th 1954
VWL786 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 192404-- [April 1924]
VWL2156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470215 [mid February 1947]
VWL2163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470226 Feb 26 [1947]
VWL2273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19510919 19th Septr., 1951.
VWL2493 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19521014 October 14th 1952
VWL3341 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19560614 June 14 1956
VWL489 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19220129 [29th January 1922]
VWL2282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19240203 3 Feb 1924
VWL3414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19560610 June 10th 1956.
VWL3713 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19580202 [2nd February 1958]

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