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
VWL835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300103 Jan 3/1930
VWL3824 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930?]
VWL3871 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL1135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Dwelly 1930---- [1930]
VWL3825 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3848 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930 or 1931]
VWL3893 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL4700 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL3894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Stich[?] 1930---- Sept 21 [1930s?]
VWL1145 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss M. Goodchild 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL3826 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [mid-1930s]
VWL3830 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3831 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3837 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930 or 1932?]
VWL3889 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930?]
VWL3890 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3892 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930?]
VWL4817 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1930---- [1930]
VWL1136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1930---- [c.1930]
VWL3234 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1930---- Tuesday [1930s]
VWL3834 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL3847 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL3872 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- Sunday [1930s?]
VWL3896 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL4579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Thorpe 1930---- [1930-1934]
VWL4855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL3237 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 193-1102 November 2 [1930s]
VWL2248 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kirstie Milford 193-1018 Oct 18 [1930s?]
VWL4851 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193-0513 May 13 [1930s]

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