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.

Searching:
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
VWL4634 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hubback 19360329 March 29 [1936]
VWL4965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Spencer 19360319 March 19 [1936]
VWL937 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Rothenstein 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL941 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360315 March 15 [1936]
VWL5244 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19360215 February 16 1936
VWL934 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360213 Feb 13 [1936]
VWL933 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360212 Feb 12 [1936]
VWL879 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19360208 8 Feb 1936
VWL5272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Ramsay 19360208 February 8 [1936?]
VWL4995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Boosey 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederic Wilkinson 19360208 Feb 8th [1936]
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL865 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19360126 Sunday [26 January 1936]
VWL863 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19360109 Jan 9 [1936]
VWL4830 Letter (extract) from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193601-- [between 15 January and February, 1936]
VWL4773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19351226 Dec 26 [1935?]
VWL831 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19351224 Dec 24 [1935]
VWL4607 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351213 December 13 [1935]
VWL827 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19351213 Dec 13 [1935]
VWL821 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351208 December 8 [1935]
VWL5121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19351203 Dec 3 [1935]
VWL5033 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19351114 November 14 [1935]
VWL809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19351113 Nov 13 [1935?]
VWL810 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Hutchings 19351113 November 13 [1935 or later]
VWL4627 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hubback 193511-- [November 1935]
VWL4606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Western 193511-- Wednesday [November, 1935]
VWL804 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19351012 October 12 [1935]
VWL803 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19351007 October 7 [1935]
VWL802 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19351006 October 6 [1935]
VWL801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19350929 Sunday 29 Sep [1935]

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