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
VWL4689 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19530211 11th February, 1953.
VWL4688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19530208 February 8th 1953.
VWL2468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520917 17th September, 1952
VWL2157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501115 15th November, 1950.
VWL2114 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501025 25th October, 1950.
VWL2111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL3687 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19500920 20th September, 1950.
VWL4685 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19500914 Thursday [September 14 1950]
VWL2083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500908 8th September, 1950.
VWL2077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500820 Aug 20th 1950
VWL4378 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor and Mary Sheppard 19500815 August 15 [1950]
VWL2074 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19500809 9th August, 1950
VWL2059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote 195007-- [About July 1950]
VWL1969 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500125 Jan 25.[1950]
VWL1968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500104 4th January, 1950.
VWL2911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491123 23rd November, 1949
VWL2910 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491109 9th November, 1949
VWL3119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19491102 2nd November, 1949.
VWL2909 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19491102 2nd November 1949
VWL3123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491101 [About 1 November 1949]
VWL4373 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19491028 October 28 [1949]
VWL4452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19491026 26th October, 1949.
VWL3130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19491025 Oct 25 [1949]
VWL3131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491019 19th October 1949
VWL3147 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to E.M. Tillett 19490914 14th September, 1949

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