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
VWL4405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Bray 19580719 July 19th 1958.
VWL5101 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Times 19580612 12 June, 1958
VWL3339 Letter from Charles Parker to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19580221 21st February 1958
VWL5214 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Welsh Folk Song Society 1958---- 1958
VWL2967 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanley Godman 19550114 Jan 14 1955
VWL3926 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Eila Mackenzie 1954---- [1954?]
VWL4894 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19530326 26th March, 1953.
VWL4897 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19530321 March 21st 1953
VWL2215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Birmingham Reference Library 19510422 April 22 [1951]
VWL5111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frits Stegmann 19490413 13th April, 1949.
VWL2836 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Derek G. Smith 19481020 20th October, 1948.
VWL3160 Letter from Margaret Dean-Smith to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19461104 4th November, 1946.
VWL1775 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to H. Raymond Barnett 194605-- [about May 1946]
VWL1530 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss (OUP) 19410407 April 7 [1941]
VWL4020 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400404 April 4 [1940]
VWL1412 Talk by Ralph Vaughan Williams on folk song music for the BBC 19400327 [27 March 1940]
VWL1391 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell 19400322 March 22nd [1940]
VWL4019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400320 March 20 [1940]
VWL3843 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1940---- [1940s?]
VWL4890 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Fletcher 194----- [1940s?]
VWL1646 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Major Percy S.G. O’Donnell (BBC) 19391211 Dec 11 [1939]
VWL4899 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19390713 [13 July 1939]
VWL4470 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19350718 July 18 [late 1930s]
VWL185 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Director of ‘English Dance Players’ 19350114 January 14 [1935]
VWL4869 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1935---- [1930s]
VWL1136 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Percy Dearmer 1930---- [c.1930]
VWL5166 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sinclair Logan 193-0208 Feb 8 [1930s?]
VWL3858 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 193----- [1930s?]
VWL4806 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1929---- [1929]
VWL4789 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19250627 [late June 1925]

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