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
VWL1854 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Zoltán Kodály 193311-- [November 1933]
VWL3989 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19330624 [24 June 1933]
VWL4577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Edwards Park 19330311 March 11th 1935
VWL1048 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330311 [11 March 1933]
VWL4848 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Peter Montgomery 19330220 [late February 1933]
VWL3983 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19320927 27 Sep 1932
VWL5124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 1932---- [1932?]
VWL3887 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1931---- [1931?]
VWL5080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19301204 Dec. 4, 1930
VWL4877 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 193009-- [late 1930]
VWL4032 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evelyn Ault 19300517 May 17 [1930s]
VWL4841 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard Van Dieren 19300130 January 30 [1930]
VWL3893 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL4700 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fiona McCleary 1930---- [1930s?]
VWL3834 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1930---- [1930]
VWL4998 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 193-0303 March 3 [early 1930s]
VWL2418 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 193----- [early 1930s]
VWL3881 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193----- [1930s?]
VWL5075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19291209 Dec. 9, 1929
VWL3850 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William Williams 19290124 Jan 24th 1929
VWL4808 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1929---- [late 1920s]
VWL5149 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cuthbert Bates 19280918 [18/9/1928]
VWL3251 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 192703-- Wednesday [March 1927?]
VWL3252 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 19270208 Tuesday [8 Feb 1927]
VWL5170 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hans Becker 19240606 6/6/24
VWL557 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19240605 [c. September 1924]
VWL4967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Alexander Kaye Butterworth 19230829 29/8/23
VWL3242 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 19221115 [Wednesday 15 Nov 1922]
VWL2182 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 19220803 3/8/22
VWL472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19210401 1/4/21

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