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
VWL525 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 194001-- [January 1940?]
VWL3635 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Merritt 194-0907 Sept 7 [1940s?]
VWL5269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gillian Addis 194-0519 May 19 [1940s]
VWL5268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gillian Addis 194-0419 April 19 [1940s]
VWL1642 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19391128 Nov 28 [1939]
VWL3940 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 19391120 Nov 20 [1939]
VWL1621 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elisabeth Lutyens 19391106 Nov 6 [1939]
VWL1609 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Director-General (BBC) 19391018 Oct. 18 [1939]
VWL5041 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams and others to the Editor of the Musical Times 193909-- [September 1939]
VWL3993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19390514 May 14 1939
VWL1523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19390306 March 6 [1939]
VWL3990 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19390227 Feb 27 / 39
VWL3915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Hockman 19390203 Feb [3rd 1939]
VWL655 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 193902-- [Early February 1939]
VWL3026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Everett Helm 19390113 [13 Jan 1939]
VWL1407 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Newman 19381113 Nov 13 [1938]
VWL4974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning 19381016 Oct 16 [1938]
VWL5267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Arthur Boosey 19380815 Aug 15[?] [1938]
VWL1328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380623 June 23 [?1938]
VWL4475 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19380513 May 13 [1938]
VWL3974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams for Clarence Pinnock 19380502 May 2d 1938
VWL4211 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19380404 April 4 [1938]
VWL647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 193802-- February 1938
VWL1190 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19370725 Sunday [25th July 1937]
VWL1168 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19370514 Friday [14th May 1937]
VWL4313 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Thomas Beecham 19370210 Feb 10 [1937]
VWL4256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19370119 Jan 19th [1937?]
VWL4263 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19370111 January 11 [1937?]
VWL4261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19361129 Nov 29 [1936?]
VWL4262 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nadia Boulanger 19361026 October 26 [1936]

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