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
VWL2668 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530311 11th March, 1953.
VWL2663 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19530228 [About 28th February 1953]
VWL4279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530205 Feb 5 1953
VWL4544 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530128 28th January, 1953.
VWL2568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530105 Jan 5 [1953]
VWL2527 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521029 29th October, 1952.
VWL2469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520917 Sept 17 [1952]
VWL2447 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520706 July 6 [1952]
VWL2442 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520625 25th June, 1952.
VWL2428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520621 June 21st 1952.
VWL2416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520525 May 25th 1952
VWL2368 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520220 20th February, 1952
VWL4160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520202 2nd. February, 1952.
VWL4158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19511212 12th December, 1951.
VWL4156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510728 July 28 [1951]
VWL2250 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510530 May 30th, 1951.
VWL2178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510124 24th January, 1951.
VWL2175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510122 Jan 22 [1951]
VWL4275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510115 Jan 15 [1951]
VWL4149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 1951---- [1951]
VWL4274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501201 Dec 1 [1950]
VWL2119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19501112 Nov 12 [1950]
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501014 Oct. 14 [1950]
VWL2104 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19501011 11th October, 1950.
VWL4536 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19501011 October 11, [1950]
VWL4278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500909 Sept 9th 1950
VWL2082 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19500908 [About 8th September 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