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
VWL850 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 193004-- [April 1930]
VWL3894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL4546 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Gorell 19291123 November 23, 1929
VWL3675 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19291021 [21 October 1929]
VWL3854 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1929---- [1929?]
VWL3822 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 192712-- [December 1927?]
VWL3823 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 192712-- [mid-December 1927]
VWL4582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to W. Norman Boase 19270216 Feb 16th [about 1927]
VWL2660 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Elwes 1927---- [1927]
VWL3666 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 1925---- [1925]
VWL5180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr John 192106-- [June 1921]
VWL3674 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19210205 [5 February 1921]
VWL5060 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edgar Stafford Arthur Herbert 19190101 January 1st 1919
VWL399 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19140415 15th April 1914
VWL378 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ernest Farrar 19111231 [31st December 1911]
VWL4999 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lionel Benson 1905---- [ca 1905]
VWL5189 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ellis and White 19030213 Feb 13th [1903]

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