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
VWL3009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Gurney 195505-- [May 1955]
VWL3073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19550327 March 27th 1955.
VWL4055 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19550306 March 6th 1955.
VWL2992 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Luther Noss 19550124 January 24th 1955
VWL4073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Guest 19540815 August 15th 1954
VWL4074 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Sandwith Boys Smith 19540522 May 22nd, 1954
VWL2708 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530802 August 2nd 1953.
VWL2702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530711 July 11th 1953.
VWL2693 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19530618 18 June 1953
VWL2676 Reference for Leonard Hancock from Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530415 15th April, l953.
VWL2625 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19530128 28th January, 1953
VWL4687 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19521119 19th November 1952.
VWL2438 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of the Bournemouth Daily Echo. 19520624 [24th June 1952]
VWL2365 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19520204 [4th February 1952]
VWL2354 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2296 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19511114 14th November, 1951
VWL4778 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL2267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19510818 18.8.51
VWL2266 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19510815 15th August, 1951
VWL2345 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 195108-- [August 1951]
VWL5056 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of The Times 19510730 [Monday July 30 1951]
VWL2221 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19510430 April 30, 1951
VWL3972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 19510207 7th February 1951
VWL2174 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Veronica Wedgwood 19510117 17th January, 1951.
VWL2159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19510102 Jan 2nd 1951
VWL2132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19501220 20th December, 1950.
VWL4427 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19501002 2nd October 1950.
VWL2086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Leslie (BBC) 19500920 Sep 20 [1950]
VWL2018 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500712 12th July, 1950

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