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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
VWL5035 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19361012 [12 Oct 1936]
VWL5007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381106 Nov 6 [1938]
VWL5009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19480211 12 [i.e.11] February, 1948.
VWL5022 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19531018 October 18th 1953.
VWL5023 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19531025 October 25th 1953.
VWL5027 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19580724 July 24th 1958.
VWL5029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19430721 July 21 [1943]
VWL5031 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500914 Sept 14 [1950?]
VWL5038 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19490429 [29 April 1949]
VWL5013 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19500315 15th March, 1950.
VWL5015 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19510117 Jan 17 [1951]
VWL5025 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19560513 May 13th 1956.
VWL5028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19420528 May 28 [1942]
VWL5033 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19351114 November 14 [1935]
VWL5037 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19381026 [26 Oct 1938]
VWL5039 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19370919 Sunday [19 Sep 1937]
VWL780 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Burnaby 192311-- [?Late 1923]
VWL517 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Burnaby 19230610 [About 10 June 1923]
VWL599 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Burnaby 19260214 Feb 14th [1926]
VWL777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Burnaby 192210-- [Late 1922]
VWL778 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Burnaby 192303-- [Early 1923]
VWL5099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Cruft 19560225 Feb 25 [1956]
VWL580 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Helias Finnie McEwen 19260729 [29th July l926]
VWL3261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Howgill (BBC) 19560129 January 29th 1956
VWL2479 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 19521005 Oct 5th [1952]
VWL1914 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 19440510 10th May [1944]
VWL1551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 194111-- [About November 1941]
VWL3153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 19490814 [14] Aug [1949]
VWL2027 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Ireland 19460207 Feb 7 1946
VWL2162 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe 19470221 Feb 21 [1947]

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