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
VWL2759 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19540123 January 23rd 1954.
VWL2477 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19521110 November 10th 1952
VWL2423 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19520530 May 30th., 1952.
VWL2415 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520524 May 24th 1952
VWL4533 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19491223 December 23 [1949]
VWL3145 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19490927 27th September, 1949.
VWL2936 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481216 16th December, 1948.
VWL2934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19481216 16th December, 1948
VWL2839 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19481026 Oct 26th [1948]
VWL2805 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19481007 7th October, 1948.
VWL2771 Letter from from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480621 21st June, 1948
VWL2592 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480416 16th April, 1948
VWL2546 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480210 10th February, 1948
VWL2544 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480122 22nd January, 1948.
VWL2542 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480120 [20th January 1948]
VWL2532 Letter from from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480109 9th January, 1948.
VWL4308 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19471203 Dec 3 [1947]
VWL2402 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19471119 19th November, 1947.
VWL2325 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19471008 8th October, 1947
VWL2319 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert W. Fenn 19471001 1st October 1947
VWL2306 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19470709 9th July, 1947.
VWL2303 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19470703 3rd July, 1947

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