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
VWL2361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520202 2nd February, 1952
VWL2363 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dora Foss 19520202 2nd February, 1952
VWL2364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19520202 2nd. February, 1952
VWL4160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520202 2nd. February, 1952.
VWL2352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 195202-- [?February 1952]
VWL2360 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Librarian of the Hallé Orchestra 19520131 Jan 31 1952
VWL2359 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19520127 Jan 27 [1952?]
VWL2358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19520126 January 26th 1952.
VWL2357 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19520116 16th January, 1952.
VWL2355 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19520116 16th January, 1952
VWL2356 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 19520116 16th January, 1952
VWL2353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19520109 Jan 9th [1952]
VWL2349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2354 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Benjamin 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2350 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19520109 9th January 1952
VWL4051 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19520104 Jan 4th 1952
VWL2348 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520102 2nd. January, 1952.
VWL2336 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520102 January 2 [1952]
VWL3864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1952---- Whit Sunday [1952?]
VWL4543 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 1952---- [1952]
VWL4115 Postcard from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Turner 19512-- [December, 1954]
VWL4271 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eva Hornstein 19511227 Dec 27 [1951]
VWL192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Turner Levy 19511227 27th December, 1951.
VWL2335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19511227 27th December 1951
VWL4540 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511227 27th December, 1951.
VWL5253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19511225 Xmas Day [1951]
VWL2334 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Dorothy Wallis 19511225 Xmas day [1951]
VWL2332 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19511218 18th December, 1951.

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