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
VWL2212 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19510409 April 9 [1951]
VWL2339 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 195103-- Sat [March 1951]
VWL2126 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19501219 Tuesday [19th December 1950]
VWL2123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19501213 13th December, 1950.
VWL4274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501201 Dec 1 [1950]
VWL2117 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19501103 Friday [3rd November 1950]
VWL2061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 195011-- [November 1950]
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501014 Oct. 14 [1950]
VWL2089 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19501004 October 4 [1950?]
VWL2077 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500820 Aug 20th 1950
VWL4276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500727 July 27 [1950]
VWL1975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19500122 Jan 22 [1950]
VWL3173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19490702 Saturday [2 July, 1949]
VWL2999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19490505 5th May, 1949.
VWL1849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 194905-- [?May 1949]
VWL2959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490309 9th March, 1949
VWL2954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490217 17th February, 1949.
VWL2946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490209 9th February, 1949
VWL1769 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 1949---- Sunday [1948-9]
VWL2514 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19480104 January 4 [1948]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL2029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19460320 March 20 [1946]
VWL4672 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460105 Saturday night [5.1.46]
VWL2025 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19460101 New Year's Day [1946]
VWL4668 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19451106 Tueday [Nov 6 1945]
VWL1953 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19441226 Dec 26 [1944]
VWL1922 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19440704 July 4 [1944]
VWL1802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19430917 17.9.43
VWL1842 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 194306-- [Late May or early June 1943]

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