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
VWL4518 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19440117 Jan 17 1944
VWL1859 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19440115 [Mid January 1944]
VWL1858 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Glasgow 19440108 Jan 8 [1944]
VWL3954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 1944---- Oct 18 [1944]
VWL1960 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 1944---- [1943 or 1944]
VWL5094 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19431228 Dec 28 [1943?]
VWL5064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jean Stewart 19431226 Dec 26 [1943]
VWL5237 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to May Harrison 19431225 Xmas Day [1943]
VWL1833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederick Page 19431225 Xmas Day [1943]
VWL1825 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clarence Raybould (BBC) 19431223 [23 December 1943]
VWL1826 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19431222 Dec 22 [1943]
VWL1822 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19431220 Dec 20 [?1943 ]
VWL1821 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Bliss (BBC) 19431215 Dec 15 [1943]
VWL1855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19431206 Dec 6 [?1943]
VWL4517 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19431205 Dec 5 [1943?]
VWL1820 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Kantrovich 19431127 Nov 27 [1943]
VWL1819 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19431114 Nov 14 [1943]
VWL1818 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19431101 Nov 1 [probably 1943]
VWL1843 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 194311-- [1943]
VWL4786 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Louis Boyd Neel 194311-- [November 1943]
VWL1817 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19431030 Oct 30 [1943]
VWL1815 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19431029 Oct 29 [1943]
VWL1814 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adine O’Neill 19431026 Oct 26 [1943]
VWL1813 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James W. Welch (BBC) 19431023 [23 Oct 1943]
VWL1812 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19431020 Oct 20 [?1943]
VWL4516 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19431020 Oct 20th [1943]
VWL1811 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19431015 Oct 15 [1943]
VWL1809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19431014 Oct 14th [about 1943?]
VWL1807 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19431006 Oct 6 [1943]
VWL3616 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Canon George W. Briggs 19431003 Oct 3 1943

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