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
VWL4359 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19471029 October 29 [1947]
VWL2183 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19470724 July 24 [1947?]
VWL5247 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19470711 July 11 1947
VWL4329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470513 13 May 1947
VWL4229 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19470509 [9 May 1947]
VWL4681 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19470329 Wednesday [March 29 1947]
VWL1777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 194701-- [January 1947]
VWL1729 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 1947---- [1947]
VWL4678 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19461206 Friday [Dec 6 1946]
VWL4366 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leonard Neary 19461128 Nov 28 [1946]
VWL2140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19461119 Nov 19/46
VWL4235 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joseph Cooper 19461113 Nov 13 [1946]
VWL2139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19461113 Nov 13 [1946]
VWL4680 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19461107 Thursday [7.11.46]
VWL4137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19461107 Nov 7 [1946]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL2037 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Parker 19460504 May 4 [1946?]
VWL1856 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460411 Thursday [April 11 1946]
VWL4834 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19460130 January 30 [1946]
VWL4672 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460105 Saturday night [5.1.46]
VWL4525 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1946-- [November, 1946]
VWL2019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19451117 November 17 [?1945]
VWL4668 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19451106 Tueday [Nov 6 1945]
VWL5139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cranleigh Choral Society 19451102 Nov 2 [1945]
VWL1881 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denys Kilham Roberts 19450617 June 17 [1945]
VWL1992 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19450511 May 11 [1945]
VWL1887 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19450509 Wednesday [May 9 1945]
VWL2899 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19450418 April 18 [1945]
VWL1885 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Denys Kilham Roberts 19450416 16th April [1945]
VWL1411 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eugene Goossens 19450326 March 26 [1945]

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