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
VWL3797 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500726 26th July, 1950.
VWL2069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19500726 26th July, 1950
VWL1187 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alice Sumsion 19500724 July 24 [1950?]
VWL2066 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19500719 19th July 1950
VWL2065 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19500716 [July 16th, 1950?]
VWL2018 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James McKay Martin 19500712 12th July, 1950
VWL2050 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19500712 12th July, 1950.
VWL3796 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500711 July 11 [1950]
VWL2016 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Irving 19500705 5th July, 1950
VWL2017 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.L. Eastwood 19500705 5th July, 1950.
VWL3795 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500702 2 July 1950
VWL2010 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19500628 28th June, 1950.
VWL2004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500622 22nd. June, 1950
VWL3794 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500620 June 20 [1950]
VWL2002 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19500614 14th June, 1950
VWL2001 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bruce Flegg 19500614 14 June, 1950.
VWL3793 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500607 7th June, 1950.
VWL1999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500531 31st. May, 1950.
VWL1996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19500524 24th May 1950.
VWL1997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19500524 24th May, 1950
VWL1995 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500524 24th May, 1950
VWL1998 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Veronica Gotch 19500524 24th May, 1950.
VWL3792 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500516 May 16 [1950]
VWL2913 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500512 [12 May 1950]
VWL1993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19500511 11th May 1950
VWL2912 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19500511 11th May, 1950.
VWL4148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500503 3rd May, 1950.
VWL4377 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor and Mary Sheppard 19500503 May 3 [1950]
VWL3801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guy Oldham 19500412 12th April, 1950.
VWL1990 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19500405 April 5 [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