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
VWL315 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19350408 Monday night [8th April 1935]
VWL533 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vally Lasker 193504-- [Earlier part of] 1935
VWL532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 193504-- Sunday [?April 1935]
VWL4311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Phyllis Tate 19350330 30 March 1935
VWL4608 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350328 March 28 [1935]
VWL274 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350326 March 26 [1935]
VWL4857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19350326 March 26 [1935]
VWL272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350316 March 16 [1935]
VWL273 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the editor of Time & Tide 19350316 16 March l935
VWL250 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350309 March 9 [1935]
VWL249 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Imogen Holst 19350303 [3 March 1935]
VWL246 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Goldsbrough 19350301 March 1 [1935]
VWL531 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Sharp 193503-- [Probably early 1935]
VWL241 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350224 Feb 24 [1935]
VWL719 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350219 June 6 [1935]
VWL240 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 19350219 Feb 19 [1935]
VWL4620 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Western 193502-- [February, 1935]
VWL3914 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Vera Hockman 19350127 Jan 27th [1935]
VWL186 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19350117 Jan 17th [1935]
VWL3611 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1935---- [late 1930s?]
VWL4854 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1935---- [late 1930s]
VWL4877 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL3244 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1935---- August 22 [1935?]
VWL3859 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1935---- Tues 11 [late 1930s?]
VWL4869 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [1930s]
VWL4612 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 1935---- Sunday [Spring 1935?]
VWL511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 1935---- [?1935 - 1940]
VWL3614 Note on Cecil Sharp’s accompaniments of folk songs 1935---- [ca 1935]
VWL4847 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 1935---- [between 1933 and 1938]

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