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
VWL4355 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19480414 14th April, 1948.
VWL2586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19480402 2nd April, 1948.
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL2580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19480318 March 18 [1948]
VWL2574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480302 March 2 [1948]
VWL4295 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Collet 19480224 February 24 [1948]
VWL4532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL3946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL5009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19480211 12 [i.e.11] February, 1948.
VWL4529 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19480120 Jan 20 [1948?]
VWL2541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19480119 Jan 19 [1948]
VWL4655 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19480115 [15 January 1948]
VWL2540 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480115 15th January, 1948.
VWL2531 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bee Boeijinga 19480106 Jan 6th [1948]
VWL1836 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 194801-- [January 1948]
VWL1767 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ursula Wood 1948---- [later part of 1948]
VWL2904 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 1948---- Sunday [?1948 or later]
VWL3838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1948---- [1948?]
VWL1765 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 1948---- [1948]
VWL1766 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 1948---- [?1948]
VWL4530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19471227 27th December, 1947.
VWL2510 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 19471226 Dec 26 [1947]
VWL2509 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19471225 Xmas Day [1947?]
VWL2502 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19471217 Dec 17 [1947]
VWL4309 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19471211 11th December, 1947.
VWL2435 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isolde Menges 19471211 Dec 11 [1947]
VWL2436 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19471211 11th December, 1947.
VWL4308 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19471203 Dec 3 [1947]
VWL2430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19471203 Dec 3 [1947]
VWL2419 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19471125 Nov 25 [1947]

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