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
VWL3595 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rosamund Strode 19571017 [17th October 1957]
VWL3596 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page & Douglas Lilburn 19571018 Oct 18 [1957]
VWL3597 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19571021 [21 October 1957]
VWL3598 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19571025 October 25th 1957
VWL3599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19571025 October 25th 1957.
VWL3600 Letter from Joseph Szigeti to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571027 October 27, 1957
VWL3601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19571029 October 29th 1957
VWL3602 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19571029 October 29th 1957.
VWL3664 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19570822 22 August 1957
VWL3665 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19571015 October 15th 1957
VWL3688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19571220 December 20th 1957
VWL3694 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19570126 January 26th 1957.
VWL3695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Riddick 19570122 January 22nd 1957.
VWL3709 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571231 December 31st, 1957.
VWL3788 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571228 December 28th, 1957.
VWL3789 Letter from Alan Bush to Adolph Borsdorf 19571228 December 28th, 1957.
VWL3790 Letter from Alan Bush to Adolph Borsdorf 19571231 December 31st, 1957.
VWL3814 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanley Godman 19570509 May 9th 1957.
VWL3956 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Royal Philharmonic Society 19570605 June 5 1957
VWL3985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19571126 November 26th 1957.
VWL4004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Walter at the Performing Right Society 19570125 January 25th 1957
VWL4005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19571215 December 15th 1957
VWL4006 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Walter at the Performing Right Society 19571223 December 20th 1957.
VWL4007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Walter at the Performing Right Society 19571230 December 30th 1957.
VWL4057 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19570502 May 2nd [1957]
VWL4170 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19570215 February 15th 1957.
VWL4190 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19570321 March 21st [1957]
VWL4193 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19571022 October 22nd 1957.
VWL4248 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Mr Martin Shaw 19570905 Tuesday [3 September, 1957]
VWL4250 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19570226 February 26th [1957]

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