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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
VWL3775 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Headmaster [of Charterhouse] 1950---- March 30 [ca. 1950]
VWL5278 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Headmaster of Charterhouse School 195-0302 March 2 [1950?]
VWL5280 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Headmaster of Charterhouse School, Brian Young 19551105 November 5th, 1955
VWL2067 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Headmaster, Charterhouse School 19500719 19th July, 1950.
VWL1419 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Librarian , King’s College, Cambridge. 19400425 April 25th 1940
VWL2360 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Librarian of the Hallé Orchestra 19520131 Jan 31 1952
VWL4591 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19521019 Oct 18 [1952]
VWL4592 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19340713 July 13th [1934]
VWL4593 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Master of the Worshipful Company of Musicians 19311009 October 9 [1931]
VWL3777 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Mayor of Colchester 19510808 8 August 1951
VWL4062 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Misses Piper 194109-- [September] 1941
VWL4063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Misses Piper 194110-- [October] 1941
VWL4064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Misses Piper 194112-- [December] 1941
VWL2309 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Music Librarian (BBC) 19470721 July 21 [1947]
VWL647 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 193802-- February 1938
VWL2572 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musical Times 19480227 February 27th. 1948.
VWL284 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musician 18971013 Wednesday, October 13 1897
VWL286 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to The Musician 18971027 October 27, l897
VWL2915 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Müller-Hartmann and Hornstein families 19481016 Oct 16 [about 1948?]
VWL2055 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the Leith Hill Musical Festival of 1950 195004-- [April/May 1950]
VWL2203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the Leith Hill Musical Festival of 1951 19510308 March 8 [1951]
VWL3322 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the performers in the LHMF Passion 19580316 March 16th 1958.
VWL4005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19571215 December 15th 1957
VWL4018 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400121 [21 January 1940]
VWL4029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19500719 19th July, 1950.
VWL4050 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19511003 3rd Octr., 1951.
VWL4051 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19520104 Jan 4th 1952
VWL4053 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19530304 4th March, 1953.
VWL4019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19400320 March 20 [1940]
VWL4009 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Performing Right Society 19270503 May 2 [1927]

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