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
VWL1348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 1934---- [Sometime 1930-1934]
VWL1119 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19331026 Oct 26 [1933]
VWL1103 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19331018 Oct 18 [1933]
VWL1130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193309-- [late September 1933]
VWL1080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193308xa [August 1933]
VWL1094 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330830 Wednesday [?30th August 1933]
VWL1088 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330827 Sunday [?27th August 1933]
VWL1052 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330413 Friday [?13th April 1933]
VWL1051 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330323 March 23 [1933]
VWL1045 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330210 [10th February 1933]
VWL1035 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193302-- [early February 1933]
VWL1039 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330116 [16th January 1933]
VWL1027 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19321229 [29th December 1932]
VWL994 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19321226 December 26 [1932]
VWL1018 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19321024 24th October 1932
VWL1008 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19320912 [12th September 1932]
VWL1003 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19320612 [12th June 1932]
VWL992 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19320101 Jan 1 [1932]
VWL958 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19311030 [30th October 1931]
VWL949 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310918 [18th September 1931]
VWL930 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310802 [2nd August 1931]
VWL926 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310719 [19th July 1931]
VWL922 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310702 [2nd July 1931]
VWL920 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310623 [23rd? June 1931]
VWL918 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310620 [20th June 1931]
VWL911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310426 [26th April 1931]
VWL4768 Letter from Adeline Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310419 Sunday [19 April, 1931]
VWL904 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310306 [6th March 1931]
VWL1153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 193103-- [?summer 1931]
VWL903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310131 [31st January 1931]

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