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
VWL1856 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460411 Thursday [April 11 1946]
VWL4668 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19451106 Tueday [Nov 6 1945]
VWL1094 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19330830 Wednesday [?30th August 1933]
VWL2940 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490106 January 6 [1949]
VWL2977 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490330 March 30 [1949]
VWL297 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980704 July 4th [1898]
VWL295 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980530 30th May [1898]
VWL2856 Letter from Adrian Boult to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481210 10 December 1948
VWL3733 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19370123 23.1.37.
VWL492 Letter from Harold Child to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19220218 18 Feb. 1922
VWL2464 Letter from John Ireland to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19520829 August 29th, 1952
VWL2863 Letter from John Ireland to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19540822 August 22nd 1954
VWL1624 Letter from R.O.Morris to Alice Sumsion 19420103 Jan 3 1942
VWL458 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19200131 [31 January 1920]
VWL3571 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19571001 Oct 1st 1957
VWL2712 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530822 August 22nd 1953.
VWL3977 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alexander Burnard 19290918 18 Sep 1929
VWL1325 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arthur Bliss 19341106 Nov 6 [1934]
VWL1040 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Benjamin Britten 19330119 Jan 19 1933
VWL4287 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard Herrmann 19370917 September 17 [1937]
VWL4112 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bernard Stevens 19490112 12th January, 1949.
VWL364 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Beryl Reeves 19100512 [12 May 1910]
VWL5154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Boris Ord 19370923 Sept 23d [1937]
VWL5221 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bridget Fry 19440507 May 7 [1944]
VWL5220 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bridget Fry 19430831 August 31st [1943]
VWL4329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470513 13 May 1947
VWL813 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19351128 28 November 1935
VWL931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Thorpe Davie 19360208 Feb 8 [1936]
VWL4129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19370917 Sep 17 [1937]
VWL4142 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19360420 Monday, [20 April, 1936]

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