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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
VWL1867 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19440225 Feb 25 [1944]
VWL1909 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19440329 March 29 [1944]
VWL1306 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380607 June 7 [1938]
VWL1328 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380623 June 23 [?1938]
VWL1304 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood 19380602 June 2. [1938]
VWL1861 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Henry Wood at the BBC 19440121 Jan 21 [1944]
VWL3779 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Humphrey Milford 19420311 March 11 [1942]
VWL112 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Humphrey Milford 19420323 March 23 1942
VWL996 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19320211 February 11 [1932]
VWL4215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19470927 Sept 27 [1947]
VWL4214 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19460704 July 4 [1946]
VWL4216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19450504 May 4 [1945]
VWL1005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19320710 [About 10th July 1932]
VWL3063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 1935---- [1935?]
VWL652 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 193809-- [September 1938]
VWL4211 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19380404 April 4 [1938]
VWL4212 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 1938---- [1938]
VWL4213 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19380818 [18 Aug 1938]
VWL4217 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Ivor Atkins 19480822 Aug 22 [1948]
VWL3554 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Paul Sinker 19571222 December 22nd 1957.
VWL2785 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Steuart Wilson (BBC) 19480812 12th August, 1948.
VWL720 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Sydney Cockerell 19350607 June 7th [1935]
VWL4323 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Thomas Beecham 19490428 28th April, 1949.
VWL408 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stainer and Bell 19140713 July 13th 1914
VWL4997 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19411117 Nov 17 [1941]
VWL838 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 19300119 Sunday [19th January 1930]
VWL4998 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson 193-0303 March 3 [early 1930s]
VWL3059 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL1594 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19411205 Dec 5 [1941]
VWL1626 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Stanford Robinson (BBC) 19420104 Jan. 4th [1942]

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