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
VWL1408 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Townsend 19381115 Nov 12 [1938]
VWL1407 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19381113 Nov 13 [1938]
VWL1406 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19381106 Sunday evening [6th November 1938]
VWL5007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381106 Nov 6 [1938]
VWL3603 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Busch 19381105 Nov 5 [1938]
VWL1405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19381101 [c.1 November 1938]
VWL4014 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19381030 Oct 30 [1938]
VWL5037 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381026 [26 Oct 1938]
VWL1404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19381018 Tuesday [18th October 1938]
VWL4974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19381016 Oct 16 [1938]
VWL1402 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19381015 October 15 [1938]
VWL1403 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19381015 Oct 15 [1938]
VWL1388 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL1401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19381014 Oct 14 [1938]
VWL1386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19381009 October 9 [?1938]
VWL1387 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19381009 Oct 9th 1938
VWL1381 Letter from Sir Henry Wood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19381007 October 7th 1938
VWL1378 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19381004 [4th October 1938]
VWL1377 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Bush 19380925 Sept 25 [1938?]
VWL1215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Jenkins 19380920 September 20 [1938]
VWL3735 Letter from Nancy Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380919 September 19th, 1938
VWL1375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380919 [19th September 1938]
VWL1374 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19380917 Sep 17th [?1938]
VWL1372 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19380915 [about 15th September 1938]
VWL651 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 193809-- [September 1938]
VWL4901 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 193809-- [September 1938]
VWL650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 193809-- [?September 1938]
VWL652 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 193809-- [September 1938]
VWL1371 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19380820 [20th August 1938]
VWL4213 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19380818 [18 Aug 1938]

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