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
VWL947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19360519 [19th May 1936]
VWL946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360519 [19th May 1936]
VWL945 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19360522 Friday [22nd May 1936]
VWL943 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Boris Ord 19360512 May 12th [c1936?]
VWL941 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL940 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to Edward Elgar 19310909 [9th September 1931]
VWL939 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Sumsion 19310809 August 9 [1931]
VWL938 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson (BBC) 19310802 August 2nd [1931]
VWL937 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL935 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christian Darnton 19360308 March 8 [1936?]
VWL934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360213 Feb 13 [1936]
VWL933 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360212 Feb 12 [1936]
VWL932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christian Darnton 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL930 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310802 [2nd August 1931]
VWL928 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310724 [24 July 1931]
VWL927 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Raverat 19310720 [c 20 July 1931]
VWL926 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310719 [19th July 1931]
VWL925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310714 [14 July 1931]
VWL924 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19310714 [14th July 1931]
VWL923 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Raverat 19310712 July 12 [1931]
VWL922 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310702 [2nd July 1931]
VWL920 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310623 [23rd? June 1931]
VWL919 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 19310621 June 21 [1931]
VWL918 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310620 [20th June 1931]
VWL917 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Sumsion 19310614 [14 June 1931]
VWL915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19310521 Thursday May 21 [1931]
VWL913 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19310517 [17 May 1931]
VWL912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker, Nora Day and Helen Bidder 19310517 May 17th 31
VWL911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310426 [26th April 1931]

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