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
VWL520 Letter from Margaret Vaughan Williams to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19231011 Thursday Oct: 11th 1923
VWL3714 Letter from Margot Fonteyn to Vaughan Williams Memorial subscribers 195903-- March, 1959
VWL768 Letter from Marion Scott to Adeline Vaughan Williams 19350819 Aug. 19th 1935
VWL3374 Letter from Martin Shaw to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19580216 Feb 16th 1958
VWL4096 Letter from Martin Shaw to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19270712 12th July, 1927.
VWL4110 Letter from Martin Shaw to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19281005 5th October, 1928
VWL4499 Letter from Martin Shaw to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19280322 22nd March, 1928.
VWL3651 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19310720 20 July 1931.
VWL3654 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19361207 7.12.36.
VWL3655 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19310618 18 June 1931.
VWL3653 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19310602 26 June 1931.
VWL3711 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 1936---- [1936?]
VWL598 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19260112 12 January 1926
VWL845 Letter from Maud Karpeles to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19300303 3.3.30
VWL287 Letter from Max Bruch to Ralph Vaughan Williams 18971031 31.10.97
VWL202 Letter from Max Bruch to Ralph Vaughan Williams 18980205 5 February 1898
VWL3552 Letter from Michael and Eslyn Kennedy to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571231 Dec.31, 1957.
VWL2612 Letter from Michael Kennedy to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530118 Sunday, Jan 18th, 1953.
VWL3456 Letter from Michael Tippett to Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams 19561229 29th Dec. 1956
VWL1957 Letter from Michael Tippett to Ralph Vaughan Williams 194401-- Sat [?January 1944]
VWL1629 Letter from Myra Hess to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19420119 January 19th 1942
VWL3720 Letter from Nancy Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19390326 March 26th, 1939
VWL3735 Letter from Nancy Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19380919 September 19th, 1938
VWL2637 Letter from Neville Cardus to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530202 February 2nd 1953
VWL1585 Letter from Norman Peterkin (OUP) to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19411110 [10 November 1941]
VWL3905 Letter from Olin Downes Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530826 August 26, 1953
VWL3910 Letter from Olin Downes to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550602 June 2, 1955
VWL3845 Letter from Olin Downes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19430825 August 25, 1943
VWL3904 Letter from Olin Downes to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19530818 August 18, 1953
VWL4610 Letter from Patrick Hadley and Henry Balfour Gardiner to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19350412 12 April 1935

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