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
VWL4744 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 194-1210 Dec 10 [1940s?]
VWL4572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward Newill 194-1116 November 16 [1940s]
VWL4783 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 194-1102 Nov 2 [1940s]
VWL3636 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Merritt 194-11-- [1940s?]
VWL4491 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 194-1006 Oct 6 [1940s?]
VWL4913 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 194-1001 Oct 1st [1940s?]
VWL3635 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Merritt 194-0907 Sept 7 [1940s?]
VWL4747 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 194-0901 Sept 1st [late 1940s]
VWL5185 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 194-0823 August 23 [1940s]
VWL5182 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 194-0624 June 24 [1940?]
VWL1648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194-0620 June 20th [194-?]
VWL1647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194-0619 Saturday [not long before 20 June 194-]
VWL4564 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Walter Susskind 194-0610 June 10 [late 1940s?]
VWL4621 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Noble 194-0520 May 20 [1940s?]
VWL5269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gillian Addis 194-0519 May 19 [1940s]
VWL4622 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Noble 194-05-- [May 1940s?]
VWL5268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gillian Addis 194-0419 April 19 [1940s]
VWL5092 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 194-0404 April 4 [1940s?]
VWL5218 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cousins 194-0214 February 14th [1940s?]
VWL3047 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 194----- Feb 15 [1940s?]
VWL3877 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 194----- [1940s?]
VWL3941 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 194----- Jan 26 [1940?]
VWL4570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 194----- Oct 31 [1940s?]
VWL4919 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 194----- [1940s?]
VWL5095 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 194----- [1940s?]
VWL3882 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 194----- Wed. [1940s?]
VWL3939 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 194----- Sep 12 [1940s?]
VWL3942 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 194----- Jan 20 [1940s?]
VWL4758 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 194----- Sunday [1940s]
VWL5091 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 194----- Nov 12 [1940s?]

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