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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
VWL3164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19490810 10th August, 1949.
VWL4463 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19371206 Dec 6 [about 1937]
VWL4467 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19380312 March 12 [1938?]
VWL4468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1935---- [late 1930s?]
VWL4472 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19540630 June 30th 1954
VWL1216 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19370921 September 21 [1937]
VWL2407 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19520502 May 2nd [1952]
VWL3076 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19550418 April 18th 1955.
VWL4465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1934---- [1934]
VWL4477 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19540612 June 12th 1954
VWL4462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1938---- Jan 3d [late 1930s]
VWL4464 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19371101 [Nov 1 1937]
VWL4470 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19350718 July 18 [late 1930s]
VWL512 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1937---- [1937?]
VWL2391 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19520409 9th April, 1952
VWL4466 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 1939---- Tuesday [1939?]
VWL4469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19520604 4th June, 1952.
VWL4471 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19341017 [17 Oct 1934]
VWL4473 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19430518 May 18 [1943]
VWL4474 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19370212 February 12 [1937]
VWL4475 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19380513 May 13 [1938]
VWL4476 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19400927 Sept 27 [about 1940?]
VWL1892 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank M. Flack 19521022 22nd. October, 1952
VWL2523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Merrick 19521027 October 27th 1952.
VWL5215 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Sidgwick 1908---- [probably 1908 or later]
VWL3963 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19370405 April 5 [1937]
VWL1808 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19431014 October 14 [1943]
VWL3282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Thistleton 19580626 June 26th 1958.
VWL255 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Fredegond and Ermengard Maitland 1897---- [September 1897]
VWL866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frederic Wilkinson 19360208 Feb 8th [1936]

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