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
VWL2200 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510301 [March 1st 1951]
VWL2207 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510317 2.oc [about 17th March 1951]
VWL4759 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510126 Thursday [26 Jan 1951]
VWL4704 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Page 19510202 2 Feb 1951
VWL2158 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19510101 Jan 1 [1951]
VWL2217 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510427 27 April 1951
VWL2226 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510506 6 May 1951
VWL2223 Letter from Edward J. Dent to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510502 2 May 1951
VWL2255 Letter from Hubert Foss to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510620 20th June, 1951
VWL2293 Letter from Hubert Foss to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19511112 [About 12th November 1951]
VWL2171 Letter from Jean Sibelius to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19510108 January 8, 1951
VWL4539 Letter from Ralph and Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald and Joyce Finzi 19510221 Feb 21 [1951]
VWL5056 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of The Times 19510730 [Monday July 30 1951]
VWL2270 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510831 31st. August, 1951.
VWL2250 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510530 May 30th, 1951.
VWL4156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511118 November 18th 1951.
VWL2275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510926 26th September, 1951.
VWL2298 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511121 November 21st., 1951.
VWL4147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510517 17th May, 1951.
VWL4154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510919 19th September, 1951.
VWL4171 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL2172 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510110 10th January, 1951.
VWL2268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510824 Aug 24 [1951]
VWL4155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL4159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL2211 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alec Robertson (BBC) 19510329 29th March, 1951.
VWL3996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19510808 8 Aug 1951
VWL2271 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19510831 31st. August, 1951.
VWL2232 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19510514 May 14 [1951]

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