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
VWL4763 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Choir of Kensington High School 19421022 Oct 22 [1942]
VWL2192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the children of the Parents’ Union School, Ambleside 19510219 February, 1951
VWL433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19170923 Sept 23rd [1917]
VWL481 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19211011 10/11/21
VWL434 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19171001 Oct 1st [1917]
VWL467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19201221 21 December 1920
VWL482 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19211127 27/11/21
VWL487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19220118 18/1/22
VWL466 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19201215 15 December 1920
VWL431 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19170720 July 20 [1917]
VWL480 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19211007 7/10/21
VWL491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19220202 2/2/22
VWL1286 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19380410 Sunday [10 April 1938]
VWL1125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19331214 Dec 14 [1933]
VWL2140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19461119 Nov 19/46
VWL608 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Bach Choir 19260612 [About 12th June 1926]
VWL2108 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Terence Casey 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2197 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Terence Casey 19510228 28th February, 1951.
VWL2791 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to T. Tertius Noble 19480904 4th September, 1948
VWL4966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Spencer 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL4965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Spencer 19360319 March 19 [1936]
VWL677 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Drew 193906-- [June 1939]
VWL951 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Drew 19360606 June 6 [?1936]
VWL1538 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Drew 19410605 June 5 [1941]
VWL2896 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susanne Müller-Hartmann 19430901 Sept 1st [1943]
VWL4404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 1940---- [about 1940?]
VWL4402 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 19440604 June 4 1944
VWL4403 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 19300325 [25 March 1930]
VWL2216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Steuart Wilson 19510427 April 27 [1951] (7.15 A M)
VWL3725 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stephanie Pinthus 19370126 January 26th, 1937.

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