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
VWL2049 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19500712 12th July, 1950.
VWL3149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joy & Gerald Finzi 19490911 [11th September 1949]
VWL5206 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Weston Poole 19430608 June 8 1943
VWL5207 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Weston Poole 19430622 June 22 [1943]
VWL5140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Smith 19510221 21st February, 1951.
VWL4044 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Kreibich 19441224 [Christmas 1944]
VWL4043 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Kreibich 19421012 Oct 12 [1944?]
VWL4233 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 194610-- [October 1946]
VWL4235 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19461113 Nov 13 [1946]
VWL4231 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19461125 Nov 25 [1946]
VWL4232 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19460922 Sept 22 [1946]
VWL4230 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19460918 Sept 18 [1946]
VWL4234 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19461026 Oct 26 [1946]
VWL4641 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19571015 October 15th 1957.
VWL4663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19571207 December 7th [1957]
VWL5279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19520702 2nd. July, 1952.
VWL2858 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540801 August 1st 1954.
VWL2819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540509 May 9th 1954.
VWL2951 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 195403-- [March 1954]
VWL2842 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540708 July 8th 1954.
VWL4282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540502 May 2nd 1954
VWL2808 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540328 March 28th 1954.
VWL2798 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540302 March 2nd 1954.
VWL2825 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack (OUP) 19540601 June 1st 1954.
VWL2962 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Warrack 195405-- [May 1954]
VWL3058 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tressider Sheppard, Provost of King’s College Cambridge 19491125 November 25 [1949]
VWL3079 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tressider Sheppard, Provost of King’s College Cambridge 19491116 16th November, 1949
VWL1719 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tindall Robertson 19421024 Oct 24 [1942]
VWL2604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tindall Robertson 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL4074 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Sandwith Boys Smith 19540522 May 22nd, 1954

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