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
VWL3105 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19550728 July 28th [1955]
VWL3103 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19550717 July 17th [1955]
VWL3100 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19550701 July 1st 1955.
VWL3099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clifford Gillam (Arnold Bax Society) 19550629 June 29th 1955.
VWL3097 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Benjamin Frankel 19550620 June 20 1955
VWL3098 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19550620 June 20th 1955.
VWL3911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550620 June 20th 1955
VWL4238 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19550620 June 20 [1955]
VWL3096 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19550619 [19 June 1955]
VWL3095 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19550615 June 15th 1955.
VWL4237 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19550615 June 15th 1955.
VWL3094 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Albert Sturgess 19550609 June 9th 1955.
VWL3093 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Eslyn Kennedy 19550608 June 8th [1955]
VWL3092 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19550603 June 3rd 1955.
VWL3927 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eila Mackenzie 19550529 May 29th 1955.
VWL4735 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19550528 May 28th 1955.
VWL4285 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Ashmore 19550521 May 21st 1955.
VWL3090 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19550521 May 21st 1955.
VWL3089 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19550517 May 17th 1955.
VWL4640 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Willis 19550514 May 14th 1955
VWL3086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550502 May 2nd 1955
VWL3085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550429 April 29th 1955
VWL3084 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550424 [24 April 1955]
VWL3083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550422 April 22 [1955]
VWL3082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3076 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3081 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Porter Kier 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL3075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19550418 April 18th 1955
VWL3071 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19550327 March 27th 1955
VWL3069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19550320 March 20th 1955.

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