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
VWL4680 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19461107 Thursday [7.11.46]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL430 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19170522 May 22 [1917]
VWL429 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust 19170409 April 9th [1917]
VWL3004 Letter from Adrian Boult to Adeline Vaughan Williams 19490526 May 26th 1949
VWL588 Letter from Carl Stoeckel to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19250616 June 16th, 1925.
VWL493 Letter from Crompton Llewellyn Davies to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220227 27 Feb 1922
VWL744 Letter from Frederick Stock to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19350625 25 June 1935
VWL395 Letter from George Butterworth to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19140328 March 28 1914
VWL393 Letter from Gervase Elwes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19140328 March 28th l914
VWL3958 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19140329 Sunday [29 March, 1914]
VWL3573 Letter from John Barbirolli to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571005 Oct 5/57.
VWL3909 Letter from LeRoy Van Hoesen, jr to Olin Downes 19550527 May 27, 1955
VWL568 Letter from Madelon Coates to Percy Scholes 19240828 Aug: 28th 1924
VWL3910 Letter from Olin Downes to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550602 June 2, 1955
VWL3845 Letter from Olin Downes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19430825 August 25, 1943
VWL3904 Letter from Olin Downes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530818 August 18, 1953
VWL569 Letter from Percy Scholes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19240919 19.9.24
VWL2694 Letter from Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530620 June 20th 1953.
VWL1519 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19390302 Thursday [2 March 1939]
VWL1589 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19411117 [?17 November 1941]
VWL439 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19180220 Feb 20th [1918]
VWL452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19190811 11/8/19
VWL440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19180224 Sunday [24 February 1918]
VWL1260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19340606 [6th June 1934]
VWL1805 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19430924 24.9.43
VWL3375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580215 February 15th 1958.
VWL499 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to an unidentified correspondent 19220630 30/6/22
VWL2860 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Anthony Scott 19540813 August 13th l954.
VWL335 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Sharp 191107-- [July 1911]

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