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
VWL1476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401213 Dec 13 [1940]
VWL1465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401031 Oct 31 [1940]
VWL1468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19401031 October 31 [1940]
VWL1458 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19401004 October 4 [1940]
VWL1442 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19401004 Oct 4th [1940]
VWL1440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19401001 [About 1st October 1940]
VWL1500 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 194010-- [October 1940]
VWL1435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rebecca Müller-Hartmann 19400906 Sept 6 [1940]
VWL1433 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400828 August 28 [1940]
VWL1430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Granville Bantock 19400821 August 21 [1940]
VWL1426 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19400612 June 12 1940
VWL1486 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194004-- [April 1940]
VWL4490 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19400321 March 21 [1940s?]
VWL5273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William James Shergold 19391109 Nov 9th [1939]
VWL686 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 193911-- [November 1939]
VWL1608 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19391012 Oct 12 [1939]
VWL3742 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19390715 July 15th, 1939.
VWL1574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19390713 July 13 [1939]
VWL5044 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and many others to the Editor of The Times 19381118 18 November [1939]
VWL3615 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Laurence Binyon 19380709 July 9 [1938]
VWL1204 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19370816 Aug 16th [1937]
VWL1205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Professor H.G. Fiedler 19370816 August 16 1937
VWL1201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilbert Murray 19370806 Aug 6th 1937
VWL643 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hermann Fiedler 193707-- [July 1937]
VWL5055 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of The Times 19360818 August 18 [1936]
VWL4975 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19350405 [5 April 1935]
VWL794 Memorandum on the General Strike by Ralph Vaughan Williams 192605-- [May 1926]
VWL277 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19000207 [ca 7 February, 1900]

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