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.

Searching:
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
VWL3714 Letter from Margot Fonteyn to Vaughan Williams Memorial subscribers 195903-- March, 1959
VWL3267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580824 August 24th 1958
VWL3815 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanley Godman 19580819 August 19th 1958.
VWL4253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580819 August 19th 1958.
VWL4254 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580817 [August, 1958]
VWL3269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jeremy Dale Roberts 19580810 August 10th 1958.
VWL3271 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Frank Rust 19580803 [Aug. 3rd 1959]
VWL4251 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580727 July 27th. 1958
VWL4600 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19580727 [July 27th, 1958]
VWL5027 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19580724 July 24th 1958.
VWL3274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nigel Fortune 19580723 July 23rd 1958.
VWL3275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to E.A. Barber, Headmaster of Swaffham Primary School 19580710 July 10th 1958.
VWL3277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580706 July 6th 1958
VWL4268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hornstein 19580704 July 4 1958
VWL3278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19580701 July 1 1958
VWL3507 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Frank Rust 195807-- [July 1958]
VWL3282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19580626 June 26th 1958.
VWL3285 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580616 [16 June 1958]
VWL5101 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19580612 12 June, 1958
VWL3290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Tattersall 19580604 June 4th 1958.
VWL3299 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher Morris (OUP) 19580522 May 22nd 1958
VWL3300 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eugene Goossens 19580517 May 17 [1958]
VWL3302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580502 2.5.58
VWL3710 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19580428 26th [April 1958]
VWL3693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19580416 16 April 1958
VWL3306 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19580408 April 8th 1958.
VWL4430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 195804-- [April, 1958]
VWL3312 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580329 March 29th 1958.
VWL5026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19580328 [28 March 1958]
VWL4727 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to K.J. Burrell 19580328 March 28th 1958.

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