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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
VWL184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350106 [6 January 1935]
VWL183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Donald Francis Tovey 19350103 Jan 3rd 1935
VWL1347 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 1935---- Sunday [1935]
VWL3611 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1935---- [late 1930s?]
VWL4854 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1935---- [late 1930s]
VWL4877 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL3244 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1935---- August 22 [1935?]
VWL3859 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1935---- Tues 11 [late 1930s?]
VWL4869 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [1930s]
VWL4612 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1935---- Sunday [Spring 1935?]
VWL511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 1935---- [?1935 - 1940]
VWL3614 Note on Cecil Sharp’s accompaniments of folk songs 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4847 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1935---- [between 1933 and 1938]
VWL4861 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [1930s?]
VWL4883 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 1935---- [late 1930s?]
VWL3243 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1935---- Monday [1935-1937]
VWL4677 Letter from R.O. Morris to Ralph Vaughan Williams 1935---- Thursday [1935]
VWL3063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 1935---- [1935?]
VWL4872 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [mid 1930s]
VWL4903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [1935?]
VWL3863 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1935---- [mid 1930s?]
VWL3613 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4503 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL3667 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 1935---- [1935-1939]
VWL5083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 1935---- Feb 13 [late 1930?s]
VWL3840 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1935---- Jan 19 [mid-1930s?]
VWL3841 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1935---- [mid 1930s?]
VWL4500 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4504 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1935---- [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