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
VWL706 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350510 May 10 [1935]
VWL1704 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19421014 Oct 14th [1942]
VWL925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310714 [14 July 1931]
VWL957 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311024 [24 October 1931]
VWL965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311103 [3 November 1931]
VWL971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311106 6 November 1931
VWL976 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311122 [22 November 1931]
VWL1006 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19320807 [7 August 1932]
VWL1021 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19321115 [15 November 1932]
VWL1028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330120 Saturday [20 January 1933]
VWL1068 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330817 [17 August 1933]
VWL1069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330817 [17 August l933]
VWL1075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330803 [3 August 1933]
VWL316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350409 April 9th [1935]
VWL688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291003 [3 October 1929]
VWL709 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291102 [2 November 1929]
VWL710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19291201 [1 December 1929]
VWL767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19350817 [17 August 1935]
VWL793 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 192602-- [February 1926]
VWL819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351202 [2 December 1935]
VWL830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19351217 [17 December 1935]
VWL991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311230 [30 December 1931]
VWL1041 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330119 [19 January 1933]
VWL1048 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330311 [11 March 1933]
VWL1117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19361231 [31 December 1936]
VWL1120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331103 [3 November 1933]
VWL1291 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19340904 Tuesday [4 September 1934]
VWL1345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19341212 [12 December 1934]
VWL1451 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19381226 Dec 26 [?1938]
VWL2455 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19520730 30th July, 1952.

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