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
VWL1396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19400216 Feb 16 [c1940?]
VWL1405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19381101 [c.1 November 1938]
VWL1835 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19441226 Dec 26 [1944]
VWL2025 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19460101 New Year's Day [1946]
VWL2135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19501226 [Christmas 1950]
VWL3166 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19490807 August 7 [1949]
VWL840 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Trevelyan 19300125 Jan 25 [1930]
VWL2319 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert W. Fenn 19471001 1st October 1947
VWL3516 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robin Ivison 19570516 May 16th 1957
VWL4380 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robin Milford 1925---- [ca 1925]
VWL2840 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Fiske 19540702 July 2nd 1954.
VWL3487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Fiske (BBC) 19570504 May 4th 1957.
VWL3217 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Fiske (BBC) 19551108 November 8th 1955.
VWL3331 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Fiske (BBC) 19580302 March 2nd 1958.
VWL3806 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Quilter 19371219 Dec 19th [1937]
VWL1720 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Quilter 19421024 Oct 24 [1942]
VWL3807 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roger Quilter 19210213 [Feb. 13, 1921]
VWL3156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 19230102 [2 Jan 1923]
VWL3158 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 19230418 18 April 1923
VWL3155 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 1922---- [1922, after April]
VWL3154 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 19220412 12/4/22
VWL3159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 192306-- [June 1923]
VWL3157 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Cunliffe 19230312 March 12 1923
VWL3009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Gurney 195505-- [May 1955]
VWL3044 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Gurney 19560111 January 11th 1956.
VWL3008 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ronald Gurney 19550517 May 17th 1955.
VWL1645 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rosamund Gotch 19391210 Dec 10 [??1939]
VWL3280 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rosamund Strode 19580629 June 29th 1958
VWL3595 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rosamund Strode 19571017 [17th October 1957]
VWL2990 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ross Lee Finney 19550122 January 22nd 1955.

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