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
VWL4058 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.S. Scragg 194710-- Tuesday [October 1947]
VWL1416 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400418 April 18 [1940]
VWL1424 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400606 About June 6th [1940]
VWL1400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rachel Fell 19400317 March 17 [1940]
VWL857 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19300430 April 30 [1930?]
VWL1192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Greaves 19340225 Feb 25 [1934]
VWL5234 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19320213 Feb 13 [1932?]
VWL5261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19450525 May 25 [1945]
VWL5260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Hawkes 19450527 May 27 [1945]
VWL5169 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Nicholson 19491221 21st. December, 1949.
VWL126 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 190012-- [Dec 1900?]
VWL523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1938---- [1938?]
VWL743 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1928---- [before 1928]
VWL217 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19070106 Jan 6th 1907
VWL256 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189711-- XI.97
VWL260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189805-- [May or June 1898]
VWL261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189905-- [May 1899]
VWL270 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189812-- [December ?1898]
VWL283 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 18970610 [Just after 10 June 1897]
VWL2353 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19520109 Jan 9th [1952]
VWL1849 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 194905-- [?May 1949]
VWL1893 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19510707 Saturday [?7th July 1951]
VWL1997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 19500524 24th May, 1950
VWL4449 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1895---- [1895?]
VWL227 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1894---- [1894?]
VWL235 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1898---- [1898?]
VWL253 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189709-- [September 1897]
VWL276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 189912-- [late 1899]
VWL302 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1910---- [?1910]
VWL306 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1913---- [1913?]

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