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
VWL978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360825 Aug 25 [1936]
VWL4720 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Keith Douglas 19360823 August 23 [1936]
VWL3245 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 19360821 August 21 [1936?]
VWL3984 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19360821 Aug 21 [1936]
VWL5055 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of The Times 19360818 August 18 [1936]
VWL979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360818 [18th August 1936]
VWL977 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foster Clark (BBC) 19360810 August 10 [1936]
VWL5036 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19360809 [9 Aug 1936]
VWL970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360809 9 August 1936
VWL968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19360807 [About 7th August 1936]
VWL4258 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19360802 August 2 [1936]
VWL966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19360802 2nd August 1936
VWL963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360802 [2 August 1936]
VWL4259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 193608-- [1936?]
VWL961 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19360729 July 29 [about 1936?]
VWL959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360727 [27 July 1936]
VWL4871 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19360720 [late July 1936]
VWL956 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19360719 July 19th [1936]
VWL955 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360715 [15th July 1936]
VWL953 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19360714 July 14 [?1936]
VWL758 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 19360714 July 14th [1936]
VWL550 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19360710 [?10, July 1936]
VWL551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 193607-- [Late July 1936]
VWL4257 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19360619 June 19 [1936]
VWL952 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19360614 June 14 [1936]
VWL951 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Drew 19360606 June 6 [?1936]
VWL549 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 193606-- [June 1936]
VWL4870 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19360526 May 26 [1936]
VWL945 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19360522 Friday [22nd May 1936]
VWL950 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360522 [22 May 1936]

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