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
VWL3137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Isidore Schwiller 19491013 Oct 13 [1949]
VWL2982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490406 6th April, 1949.
VWL2978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs H.F. Stewart 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL2973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL3752 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Cole 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the conductors and the choirs of the Leith Hill Musical Festival 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the various schools taking part in the Dorking Passions 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19490317 [17 March 1949]
VWL2835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Young 19481020 20th October, 1948.
VWL4216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19480504 May 4 [1948]
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL4356 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Mary Watts 19480310 March 10 [1948]
VWL2546 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480210 10th February, 1948
VWL2538 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19480115 15th January, 1948.
VWL1186 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19471227 December 27 [1947?]
VWL2166 Internal BBC memorandum to the Home News Editor from Sir Adrian Boult 19470418 April 18th 1947
VWL2156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470215 [mid February 1947]
VWL2153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19470205 Feb 5 [1947]
VWL1777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194701-- [January 1947]
VWL2138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19461109 Nov 9th 1946
VWL4656 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19460526 [26 May 1946]
VWL2034 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19460412 April 12 [1946?]
VWL2011 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19451026 Oct 26 [1945]
VWL1884 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19450401 April 1 [1945]
VWL1880 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Rev. Leonard Starey 19450315 [c.15th March 1945]
VWL4523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19450209 Feb 9 [1945?]
VWL1757 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19430411 April 11 [1943]
VWL1841 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194303-- [March 1943]
VWL1838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ann Boult 194303-- Wednesday [March 1943]
VWL1633 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19420308 [About 8th March 1942]

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