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
VWL2688 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dora Foss 19530528 28th May 1953
VWL2687 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19530526 [May 26th 1953]
VWL2681 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Charles Cudworth 19530511 May 11, 1953
VWL5178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Nottingham Co-operative Society 19530511 May 11 [1953]
VWL2679 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19530420 April 20th 1953.
VWL4226 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unknown correspondent 19530420 April 20[?] 1953
VWL5176 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Nottingham Co-operative Society Ltd 19530415 15th April, 1953.
VWL4342 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Sheppard 19530408 April 8th [1953]
VWL2674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19530330 March 30 [1953]
VWL4894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19530326 26th March, 1953.
VWL2673 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530325 25th March, 1953
VWL4648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19530320 March 20 [1953]
VWL2670 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL5174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Blanning 19530316 March 16th 1953
VWL4895 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19530315 15.3.53
VWL3141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Felix Borowski 19530311 11th March, 1953
VWL2666 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Cumberlege (OUP) 19530307 March 7th 1953.
VWL2664 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530302 March 2nd 1953
VWL2663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19530228 [About 28th February 1953]
VWL2662 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John & Evelyn Barbirolli 19530220 February 20th 1953.
VWL3952 Letter from Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19530216 February 16th [1953]
VWL2656 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19530215 February 15th 1953.
VWL2649 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19530214 February 14th 1953.
VWL2650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19530214 February 14th 1953.
VWL2648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19530213 [13th February 1953]
VWL2633 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530212 [About 12 February 1953]
VWL4202 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530211 11th February, 1953
VWL2647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A.J. Patterson 19530211 11 Feb. 1953
VWL3920 Newspaper extract from The Times announcing the marriage of Vaughan Williams and Ursula Wood 19530209 Monday February 9, [1953]
VWL2644 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19530208 8.2.53

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