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
VWL2147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19470113 Jan 13 [1947]
VWL2146 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19470103 Jan 3 [1947]
VWL2145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Boris Ord 19461225 Christmas Day [1946?]
VWL2143 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19471218 Dec 18 [1947]
VWL2141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19461125 Nov 25 [1946]
VWL2140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19461119 Nov 19/46
VWL2139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19461113 Nov 13 [1946]
VWL2138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19461109 Nov 9th 1946
VWL2137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 19461101 Nov 1 [1946]
VWL2136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19501227 27th December, 1950.
VWL2135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19501226 [Christmas 1950]
VWL2134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19461018 Oct 18 [1946?]
VWL2133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19501220 20th December, 1950.
VWL2132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19501220 20th December, 1950.
VWL2131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19461014 Oct 14 [1946]
VWL2130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19461013 Oct 13 [1946]
VWL2129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19461008 Oct 8 [1946]
VWL2128 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19461005 Oct 5 [1946]
VWL2127 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460927 [27th September 1946]
VWL2126 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19501219 Tuesday [19th December 1950]
VWL2124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19491215 Dec 15 [1949]
VWL2123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19501213 13th December, 1950.
VWL2121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19501130 Nov 30 [1950]
VWL2120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19501129 29th November, 1950
VWL2119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19501112 Nov 12 [1950]
VWL2118 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19501108 8th November, 1950
VWL2117 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19501103 Friday [3rd November 1950]
VWL2116 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19501101 1st November, 1950
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2114 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501025 25th October, 1950.

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