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
VWL2208 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19510321 [21 March 1951]
VWL2207 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19510317 2.oc [about 17th March 1951]
VWL2205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19510313 [13th March 1951]
VWL2204 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 19510312 [12th March 1951]
VWL2202 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19510308 March 8 [1951]
VWL2203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the Leith Hill Musical Festival of 1951 19510308 March 8 [1951]
VWL2201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Benjamin Britten 19510308 March 8 [1951?]
VWL2199 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19510228 28th February, 1951.
VWL2197 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Terence Casey 19510228 28th February, 1951.
VWL4117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hal Burton 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL2196 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19510221 21st February, 1951
VWL4171 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL4324 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Dwelly 19510221 21st. February, 1951.
VWL5140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Smith 19510221 21st February, 1951.
VWL2191 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19510218 [?18 Feb, 1951]
VWL2190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19510214 14th February, 1951.
VWL5230 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Woodgate 19510124 Jan 24 1951
VWL2175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510122 Jan 22 [1951]
VWL3971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peggy Glanville-Hicks 19510119 Jan 19 [1951]
VWL2173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19510115 Jan 15 [1951?]
VWL4275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510115 Jan 15 [1951]
VWL5209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to E. Barry Green 19510110 10th January, 1951.
VWL2159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19510102 Jan 2nd 1951
VWL4149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 1951---- [1951]
VWL4244 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 1950506 May 6th 1956.
VWL4045 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Emily Kreibich 19501231 New year eve 1950
VWL4538 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin and Joan Shaw 19501231 New years Eve
VWL2135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19501226 [Christmas 1950]
VWL2126 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19501219 Tuesday [19th December 1950]
VWL3762 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19501206 6th December, 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