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
VWL3114 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19491109 9th November, 1949
VWL648 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 193803-- Wednesday [March 1938?]
VWL3582 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19571014 Oct 14 [1957]
VWL2462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19520827 27th August, 1952.
VWL3088 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19550511 May 11 [1955]
VWL2545 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19480129 29th January, 1948.
VWL3101 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19550701 July 1st 1955.
VWL4168 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19560520 May 20th 1956.
VWL2151 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19470127 [27th January 1947]
VWL1863 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.R. Barnes at the BBC 19440208 Feb 8 1944
VWL4269 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Genia Hornstein 19511105 Nov 5 [1951?]
VWL2659 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Bush 19530218 18th February, 1953.
VWL1823 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Bush 19431221 Dec 21st [1943]
VWL1161 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Bush 19370317 March 17 [1937]
VWL1452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Bush 19381227 Dec 27th [1938]
VWL5187 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Corbett 19470531 31 May 1947
VWL2831 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Cumberlege 19540626 June 26th 1954.
VWL2666 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Cumberlege (OUP) 19530307 March 7th 1953.
VWL3561 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19571126 November 26th 1957
VWL1026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19351229 Dec 29 [?1935]
VWL2019 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Keynes 19451117 November 17 [?1945]
VWL4733 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19500915 Sept 15 [early 1950s]
VWL4735 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19550528 May 28th 1955.
VWL4737 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19560725 July 25th 1956.
VWL4734 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19520730 30th July, 1952.
VWL4738 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19570402 April 2nd 1957.
VWL4736 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 19560119 January 19th 1956.
VWL4732 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Chambers 1950---- [early 1950s]
VWL224 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Darwin 19090611 June 11th [1909]
VWL3936 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to George Frederick McCleary 1954---- March 10 [1954-1958]

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