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
VWL3002 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Butterworth 19490525 25th May, 1949
VWL955 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19360715 [15th July 1936]
VWL1462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 19401021 Oct 21 [1940]
VWL337 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edward J. Dent 191203-- [March 1912]
VWL134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Edwin Evans 190306-- [About June 1903]
VWL3947 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19480205 5th February, 1948
VWL3948 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 19480129 29th January, 1948.
VWL2320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511205 5th December 1951
VWL3579 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon and Scott Goddard 19571013 [October 13 1957]
VWL3269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jeremy Dale Roberts 19580810 August 10th 1958.
VWL580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Blackwood McEwen 19260729 [29th July l926]
VWL5024 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19550224 February 24th 1955.
VWL1982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19500308 8th March, 1950
VWL3461 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570126 January 26th 1957.
VWL2968 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Watkins 19490316 16th March, 1949
VWL141 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190608-- [?August 1906]
VWL5131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Editor of The Listener 19560809 [9 August, 1956]
VWL284 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musician 18971013 Wednesday, October 13 1897

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