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
VWL3267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19580824 August 24th 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]
VWL3298 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580522 May 22nd [1958]
VWL4375 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Lefanu 19580502 2 May, 1958
VWL3303 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580426 26th [April 1958]
VWL3305 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580408 April 8th [1958]
VWL3312 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580329 March 29th 1958.
VWL3560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19571126 November 26th 1957.
VWL3985 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19571126 November 26th 1957.
VWL3536 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19570804 August 4th 1957.
VWL3509 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570515 [15 May 1957]
VWL3482 Letter from Robin Milford to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19570425 25.IV.57
VWL4695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maurice R.A. Reeve 19570115 January 15th 1957
VWL3436 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Paul Henry Lang 19561018 October 18th, 1956
VWL3361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560729 July 29th 1956.
VWL4246 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19560620 June 20th 1956
VWL3403 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19560517 May 17th. 1956.
VWL3199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Laurence Taylor 19551002 October 2nd 1955
VWL3757 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19550922 September 22nd, 1955.
VWL4236 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19541030 October 30 [1954]
VWL2865 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19540902 September 2nd 1954.
VWL4199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19540320 March 20th 1954.
VWL2950 Foreword from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Society for the Promotion of New Music 195403-- [About March 1954]
VWL4210 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19540118 January 18th 1954.
VWL4209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19531231 December 31st 1953.
VWL2519 Letter from Gerald Finzi to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19521020 October 20th. [1952]
VWL2605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 195210-- [October 1952?]
VWL5279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19520702 2nd. July, 1952.
VWL2377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520312 12th March, 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