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
VWL4711 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Thackeray 19400831 Aug 31 1940
VWL1433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL4224 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL1432 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19400826 [26 August 1940]
VWL1431 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19400825 [25th August 1940]
VWL4223 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL1430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL1429 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19400815 Aug 15 [1940]
VWL4880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Child 19400813 Aug 13 [ca 1940]
VWL1428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19400806 Aug 6th 1940
VWL4970 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and Maud Karpeles to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19400803 3 August 1940.
VWL4981 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19400802 August 2 [1940]
VWL1427 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19400801 Aug 1st [1940 or later]
VWL1495 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194008-- Wednesday [August 1940]
VWL1489 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194008-- Wed [August 1940]
VWL1494 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194008-- [August 1940]
VWL3650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 194008-- [ca August 1940]
VWL1496 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194008-- [1940]
VWL5241 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19400727 July 27 [1940s]
VWL5046 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of The Times 19400723 [Tuesday July 23, 1940]
VWL3677 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19400708 July 8 [1940]
VWL1490 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194007-- [Early July 1940]
VWL1491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194007-- [July 1940]
VWL1492 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194007-- [July 1940]
VWL1493 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194007-- [July 1940]
VWL4973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19400624 June 24 1940
VWL1425 Letter from G.M. Trevelyan to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19400612 June 12 1940
VWL1426 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19400612 June 12 1940
VWL5173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harald Landry 19400610 June 10th [1940]
VWL4422 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19400609 June 9 [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