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
VWL1682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reginald Thatcher (BBC) 19420825 Aug: 25. 1942.
VWL1439 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reginald Thatcher (BBC) 19400924 Sept 24 [1940]
VWL116 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1904---- [1904?]
VWL230 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1898---- [1898?]
VWL259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 189805-- [May 1898]
VWL268 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 189811-- [?November 1898 ]
VWL267 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 189811-- [November 1898]
VWL289 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980303 [3] March 1898
VWL290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980328 [28 March 1898]
VWL292 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980409 9th April 1898
VWL294 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980504 4th May 1898
VWL299 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18990129 Jan: 29th [?1899]
VWL4456 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980805 [Aug 5] 1898
VWL117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1904---- [1904?]
VWL119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1899---- [1899?]
VWL265 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980718 18 July 1898
VWL275 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 189912-- [late 1899]
VWL291 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980402 2 April 1898
VWL296 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 18980604 1898 den 4ten Juni 5 Uhr 25 Min
VWL281 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 189904-- [April 1899]
VWL120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1899---- [1899?]
VWL734 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rev. Greville Cooke 19350609 [9th June 1935]
VWL2297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rev. W. D. Kennedy Bell (BBC) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL4440 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reverend F.S. Bull 19521029 29th. October 1952
VWL1932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reverend James Welch 19440908 Sept 8 [1944]
VWL4497 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Richard Shaw 192512-- [ca 1925]
VWL4587 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Richard Standen 19540815 August 15th 1954.
VWL4588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Richard Standen 19560326 March 26th 1956.
VWL2400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Richard Walthew 19471018 Oct 18th 1947
VWL1918 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert & Bessie Trevelyan 19440602 June 2d [1944]

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