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
VWL4680 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19461107 Thursday [7.11.46]
VWL4685 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19500914 Thursday [September 14 1950]
VWL4679 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460801 Thursday morning [1 August 1946]
VWL3717 Letter from Edward Clark to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19390329 29th March, 1939
VWL1972 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank 19500111 11th January, 1950.
VWL1971 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500108 January 8 [1950]
VWL896 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Diana Awdry 19310104 [4th January 1931]
VWL2101 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Felix Aprahamian 19441005 October 5 [1944]
VWL1925 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fritz Hart 19440813 Aug 13 [?1944]
VWL2440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520625 25th June, 1952
VWL1993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19500511 11th May 1950
VWL4996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Leslie Arthur Boosey 19560826 August 26th 1956
VWL4776 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 1949---- Sunday [1949?]
VWL676 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 19290623 Sunday [23 June 1929]
VWL3028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1934---- Sunday [1934?]
VWL3137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Isidore Schwiller 19491013 Oct 13 [1949]
VWL2272 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19510910 Sept 10 [1951]
VWL1386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19381009 October 9 [?1938]
VWL1862 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19440205 Feb 5. [1944]
VWL1209 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Walter Goodchild 19380526 May 26 1938
VWL3540 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570820 August 20th [1957]

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