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
VWL2588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gwen Beckett 19480413 April 13 [1948]
VWL2587 Letter from Gwen Beckett (BBC) to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480413 13th April 1948.
VWL2586 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19480402 2nd April, 1948.
VWL2585 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480402 2nd. April, 1948.
VWL2583 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19480325 March 25 [1948]
VWL2582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480325 25th March, 1948
VWL2584 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480325 25th March, 1948.
VWL2581 Letter from Robert Müller-Hartmann to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480321 21st March 1948
VWL4692 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480321 Sunday [21 March 1948]
VWL2580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19480318 March 18 [1948]
VWL2578 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480312 12th March, 1948.
VWL2579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller-Hartmann 19480312 12th March, 1948
VWL4356 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Mary Watts 19480310 March 10 [1948]
VWL2575 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 19480304 4th March, 1948
VWL2576 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480304 4th. March, 1948.
VWL2574 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19480302 March 2 [1948]
VWL2572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 19480227 February 27th. 1948.
VWL2571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harry Stubbs 19480225 Feb 25th [1948]
VWL4295 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Collet 19480224 February 24 [1948]
VWL3620 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edmund Rubbra 19480219 19th February, 1948.
VWL2563 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL4532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19480212 12th February, 1948.
VWL2570 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harold Rutland (BBC) 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.
VWL2546 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480210 10th February, 1948
VWL4358 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19480210 Feb 10 [1948]
VWL3947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19480205 5th February, 1948
VWL2545 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19480129 29th January, 1948.
VWL3948 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19480129 29th January, 1948.

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