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
VWL3577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19571013 Oct 13 [1957]
VWL3542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19570828 August 28th 1957.
VWL3430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19561005 October 5th 1956
VWL3205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19551013 October 13th 1955.
VWL2878 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19541020 [About 20th October 1954]
VWL2733 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19531014 October 14th 1953.
VWL2694 Letter from Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530620 June 20th 1953.
VWL2655 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530215 15th February 1953.
VWL2615 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530120 20th January, 1953.
VWL2610 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530110 January 10th 1953.
VWL2488 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19521013 October 13th 1952.
VWL2362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19520202 2nd February, 1952.
VWL2287 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19511024 24th October, 1951.
VWL2280 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19511015 Oct 15 1951
VWL2269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19510831 31st. August, 1951.
VWL2238 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19510517 17th May 1951
VWL2157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501115 15th November, 1950.
VWL2114 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501025 25th October, 1950.
VWL2106 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19501014 Oct 14 [1950]
VWL2087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500927 27th September, 1950.
VWL2085 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500920 20th September, 1950.
VWL2083 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19500908 8th September, 1950.
VWL3057 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491130 Nov 30 [?1949]
VWL3135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491013 Thursday [Oct 13/49.]
VWL3139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491002 Oct 2nd [?1949]
VWL3148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19490914 14th September, 1949.
VWL3000 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19490511 11th May, 1949.
VWL1771 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 1949---- Sunday [about 1949]
VWL2833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19481014 14th October, 1948.
VWL2801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480919 Sunday [19th September 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