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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL2292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511101 1st. November, 1951.
VWL2283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL3996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19510808 8 Aug 1951
VWL2259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19510627 27th June, 1951.
VWL2192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the children of the Parents’ Union School, Ambleside 19510219 February, 1951
VWL5015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19510117 Jan 17 [1951]
VWL3995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19501115 15th November, 1950.
VWL5031 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500914 Sept 14 [1950?]
VWL1982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19500308 8th March, 1950
VWL1965 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19500103 Jan 3 [?1950]
VWL3005 Letter from Percy Grainger to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19490529 May 29, 1949
VWL3002 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Butterworth 19490525 25th May, 1949
VWL5111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frits Stegmann 19490413 13th April, 1949.
VWL2570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Rutland (BBC) 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL4748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Cockshott 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL2302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19470626 June 26 1947
VWL2155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19470213 Feb 13 [1947]
VWL5032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19461020 Oct 20 [1946]
VWL4707 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bruce L. Richmond 19451015 Oct 15th 1945
VWL5064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19431226 Dec 26 [1943]
VWL3846 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Olin Downes 19430925 25.9.43.
VWL5220 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bridget Fry 19430831 August 31st [1943]
VWL3845 Letter from Olin Downes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19430825 August 25, 1943
VWL5219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elsie Fry 19421226 26 December [early 1940s]
VWL5203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to David Griffiths 19420214 Feb 14 [1942]
VWL1606 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Tippett 19411217 Dec 17 [1941]
VWL1537 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Kennet 19410520 May 20th, 1941.
VWL3844 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Olin Downes 19410124 [24 January, 1941]
VWL4765 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (Oxford University Press) 19400916 September 16 [ca 1940]
VWL3860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1940---- [early 1940s]

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