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
VWL2032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19460409 April 9 [1946]
VWL4837 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19460308 March 8 [1946?]
VWL4834 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19460130 January 30 [1946]
VWL4672 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460105 Saturday night [5.1.46]
VWL4836 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 194601-- [before 25 January, 1946]
VWL4835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 194601-- [?January, 1946]
VWL2903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 1946---- [1946 or later]
VWL4559 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 1946---- [early 1946]
VWL1626 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19420104 Jan. 4th [1942]
VWL4670 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19400327 Wednesday [March 27 1940]
VWL1573 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19390705 [5th July 1939]
VWL674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193906-- [June, 1939]
VWL673 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193906-- [June, 1939]
VWL1283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19380313 March 13 [1938]
VWL1192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19340225 Feb 25 [1934]
VWL1122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19340103 [3 January 1934]
VWL1129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19331226 Dec 26 [1933 ]
VWL1124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19331207 Dec 7 [1933]
VWL1121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19331112 Nov 12 [1933]
VWL1020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19321113 [About 13th November 1932]
VWL3879 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1931---- [1931]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL850 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 193004-- [April 1930]
VWL849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19300316 March 16 [1930]
VWL846 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19300310 March 10th [1930]
VWL668 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Penelope Spencer 19290331 [About 31st March 1929]
VWL3780 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1929032- [Late March 1929]
VWL824 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 192903-- [March 1929]
VWL660 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19290223 Feb 23 [1929]
VWL658 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19290201 [About 1st February 1929]

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