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
VWL1776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 194603-- [?March 1946]
VWL1890 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19450519 May 19 [1945]
VWL1955 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19441227 27 Dec 1944
VWL1949 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19441203 Dec 3 [1944]
VWL1903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19440319 [19 March 1944]
VWL1904 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19440303 March 3 [1944]
VWL1791 Letter from Adrian Boult to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19430627 27 June 1943
VWL1750 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult (BBC) 19430215 Feb 15 [1943]
VWL1749 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430209 Feb 9 [1943]
VWL1557 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390325 March 25 [1939]
VWL662 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Clifford 193903-- [Early 1939]
VWL5004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henri Temianka 19361203 Dec 3 [1936]
VWL1093 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19361022 [?22 October] 1936
VWL748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to A. Wynn (BBC) 19350626 June 26 [1935]
VWL717 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19350603 June 3 [1935]
VWL702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350417 April 17 [1935]
VWL314 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19350405 [5th April 1935]
VWL4779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 193504-- [April 1935]
VWL4742 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19350101 [early 1935]
VWL1341 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage (BBC) 19341202 Dec 2 [1934]
VWL1337 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage 19341118 November 18 [1934]
VWL1327 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Aylmer Buesst (BBC) 19341114 Nov 14 [1934]
VWL1315 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340930 [30th September 1934]
VWL1314 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19340929 Sep 29 [1934]
VWL1293 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340906 Thurs [6th September 1934]
VWL4868 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19340815 [mid-August 1934]
VWL1263 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W.W. Thompson 19340617 June 17th [1934]
VWL1260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19340606 [6th June 1934]
VWL3912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Hockman 19340422 [22 or 23 April 1934]
VWL1235 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 19340413 Friday [13 April 1934]

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