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
VWL4912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 194101-- [January 1941?]
VWL4511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1941---- [1941?]
VWL1548 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 1941---- [War years - ?1941]
VWL4071 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Piper 1941---- [1941?]
VWL5165 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reading Choral Society, Pennsylvania 1941---- [late 1941?]
VWL2868 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 1941---- [before Dec 1941]
VWL1482 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401231 Dec 31 [1940]
VWL1483 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19401231 Dec 31 [1940]
VWL1481 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401229 Dec 29 [1940]
VWL3865 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 19401226 Dec 26 [about 1940?]
VWL3647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19401226 Dec 26 [ca 1940]
VWL1480 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401225 Dec 25 [1940]
VWL2867 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19401223 Dec 23 [1940?]
VWL1479 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19401223 Dec 23 [?1940]
VWL1478 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Woodgate 19401221 [21 December 1940]
VWL1477 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401214 [Dec 14th? '40]
VWL1476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401213 Dec 13 [1940]
VWL2866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19401209 9 Dec 1940
VWL5239 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19401206 Dec 6 [1940?]
VWL1475 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Scholes 19401204 [Received on 7th December 1940]
VWL1474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401203 3rd December 1940
VWL4785 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 19401203 Dec 3 [1940?]
VWL1473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401125 Nov 25 [1940?]
VWL1472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19401120 Nov 20 [1940]
VWL4982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19401119 [19 or 20 November, 1940]
VWL1471 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401115 Nov 15 [1940]
VWL4986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19401114 Nov 14 [1940]
VWL4294 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Pearl 19401112 12 November [1940]
VWL4985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19401109 Nov 9 1940
VWL3740 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19401106 November 6th, 1940

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