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
VWL3451 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19561209 December 9th 1956.
VWL3544 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19570831 August 31st [1957]
VWL2621 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19530124 24 Jan [19]53
VWL2684 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19530513 13th May, 1953.
VWL2695 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19530621 June 21st 1953.
VWL3632 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19460512 May 12 [after 1945]
VWL679 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19290712 [12 July 1929]
VWL825 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 192907-- Sunday [mid-July 1929]
VWL1318 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19341015 Oct 15 [1934-1952]
VWL2133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19501220 20th December, 1950.
VWL680 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19290721 July 21 [1929]
VWL837 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19300110 January 10 [1930]
VWL1351 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 193508-- [August 1935?]
VWL2772 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19480624 24th June, 1948.
VWL1152 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 1932---- [1932 or 1933]
VWL2441 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19520625 25th June, 1952.
VWL2448 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19520709 9th July, 1952.
VWL3419 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rutland Boughton 19580115 January 15th 1958.
VWL4568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to S.B. Lewertoff 19460317 March 17 [1946]
VWL5126 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19480819 19th August 1948.
VWL5123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19450430 [April 30 1945]
VWL5125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19480812 12th August, 1948.
VWL5121 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19351203 Dec 3 [1935]
VWL5122 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19450422 Apr 22 1945
VWL5124 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 1932---- [1932?]
VWL5128 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19490508 May 8th [1949?]
VWL4623 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney Newman 19520312 12th March, 1952.
VWL2642 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney P. Waddington 19530205 [About 5th February 1953]
VWL2932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney P. Waddington 19481215 Dec 15 [1948]
VWL4560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney Waddington 1929---- [early 1929?]

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