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
VWL909 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19310405 April 5 [1931]
VWL905 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19310307 March 7 [1931]
VWL900 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Tillett 19310120 January 20 [1931]
VWL899 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19310118 January 18 [1931]
VWL3605 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Needham 19310112 January 12 [1931]
VWL993 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193101-- Wednesday [January 1931]
VWL4773 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19301226 Dec 26 [1930]
VWL881 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Ellingford 19301209 December 9 [1930]
VWL4033 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Ault 19300911 September 11 [1930]
VWL4845 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19300823 Aug 23 [1930?]
VWL867 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Daniel Gregory Mason 19300819 August 19 [1930]
VWL859 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19300702 July 2 [1930]
VWL4849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19300624 June 24 [1930?]
VWL4032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Ault 19300517 May 17 [1930s]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300413 Sunday [April 13 1930]
VWL852 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL1234 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL853 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300408 April 8 [1930]
VWL849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19300316 March 16 [1930]
VWL844 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ina Boyle 19300303 March 3 [1930]
VWL4841 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard Van Dieren 19300130 January 30 [1930]
VWL838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19300119 Sunday [19th January 1930]
VWL839 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 19300119 Sunday Jan. 19: 1930
VWL837 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19300110 January 10 [1930]
VWL1136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1930---- [c.1930]
VWL3234 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1930---- Tuesday [1930s]
VWL4998 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 193-0303 March 3 [early 1930s]
VWL5166 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 193-0208 Feb 8 [1930s?]
VWL4856 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 193-- [1933 or later]

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