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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
VWL3959 Letter from Gustav Holst Ralph Vaughan Williams 192205-- Friday [May, 1922]
VWL3960 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220409 April 9
VWL463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Charles Edward Sayle 19200314 14/3/20
VWL5229 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19190412 April 12 [1919]
VWL4082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19190225 25/2/19
VWL4290 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150515 May 19 [1915]
VWL398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Calvocoressi 19140406 April 6th [1914]
VWL3958 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19140329 Sunday [29 March, 1914]
VWL4303 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1914--- [4 January, 1914]
VWL339 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 191311-- [late November 1913]
VWL4412 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191308-- [August 1913]
VWL4416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19130208 [8 February, 1913]
VWL4410 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1912---- Sat. [ca 1912]
VWL4411 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1912---- Monday [ca 1912]
VWL125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19110311 [About 11th March 1911]
VWL5179 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hugh Percy Allen 19110310 [10 March 1911]
VWL320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Charrington 191003-- [March 1910]
VWL4382 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1910---- [ca 1910]
VWL165 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ruth Charrington 190901-- [January 1909]
VWL5191 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19041030 Oct 30th [1904]
VWL4457 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 19001013 October 13 [1900]
VWL261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189905-- [May 1899]

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