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
VWL2488 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19521013 October 13th 1952.
VWL4347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Sheppard 19521013 October 13 1952.
VWL4769 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Shaw 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL2487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL4921 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 19521012 [12 October 1952]
VWL2486 Letter from Steuart Wilson to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521011 Oct. 11. 1952
VWL2484 Letter from Cecil Day Lewis to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521011 Oct. 11 [1952]
VWL2483 Letter from G.M. Trevelyan to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521011 Oct 11th 1952
VWL2482 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521010 [Just before 10th October, 1952]
VWL4164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521008 8th October, 1952.
VWL2481 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19521008 8th October, 1952
VWL2480 Letter from Hubert Foss to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521006 6th October, 1952
VWL2479 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 19521005 Oct 5th [1952]
VWL2476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19521001 1st October 1952
VWL2478 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521001 1st October, 1952.
VWL5222 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John O’Brien 19521001 1st October 1952
VWL4272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hornstein 195210-- [October, about 1952]
VWL2602 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 195210-- [After 12 October 1952]
VWL2605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page and Douglas Lilburn 195210-- [October 1952]
VWL2604 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Tindall Robertson 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL2475 “The Stanford Centenary” BBC talk by Vaughan Williams 19520930 Recorded: 13.8.52
VWL2474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Beryl Lock 19520925 Monday [?25th September 1952]
VWL2473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leopold Stokowski 19520924 24th September 1952
VWL2472 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19520922 22nd September 1952
VWL2471 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19520921 21. September 1952.
VWL2919 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19520918 18 Sep 1952
VWL2467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19520917 17th Septr. 1952
VWL2469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520917 Sept 17 [1952]

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