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.

Searching:
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
VWL2544 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480122 22nd January, 1948.
VWL2179 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19510131 31st. January, 1951
VWL2855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19481208 8th December, 1948.
VWL2282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL2288 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511024 24th October, 1951.
VWL2541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19480119 Jan 19 [1948]
VWL2669 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL3326 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19580308 March 8th 1958.
VWL2290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19511031 31st. October, 1951
VWL3556 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19571130 November 30th 1957
VWL3279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19580629 June 29th 1958
VWL2420 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19471125 Nov 25 [1947]
VWL2741 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19531124 November 24th 1953
VWL5138 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mr Rogers 1940---- [ca 1940]
VWL3007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Bowen 19461008 October 8th, 1946
VWL4648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19530320 March 20 [1953]
VWL4649 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19521203 3rd. December, 1952.
VWL4655 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19480115 [15 January 1948]
VWL4650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19511205 5th December 1951
VWL4651 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19501206 6th December, 1950.
VWL4653 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Marsden 19481208 8th December, 1948.
VWL3445 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Committee of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust 19561029 October 29th 1956
VWL2664 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530302 March 2nd 1953
VWL2753 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19540110 January 10th 1954.

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