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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
VWL3163 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Havergal Brian 19490810 10th August 1949
VWL5192 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hector Home Walker 19530704 July 4th 1953.
VWL5004 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henri Temianka 19371203 Dec 3 [1937]
VWL4926 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Dexter Truscott 19250617 17/6/25
VWL4927 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Dexter Truscott 192606-- June 1926
VWL774 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Nevinson 19350908 Sep 8 [1935]
VWL5270 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Walford Davies 19221130 [late November 1922?]
VWL1748 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430205 Feb 5 1943
VWL1755 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430315 March 15 [1943]
VWL238 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19370122 Jan 22 [1937]
VWL623 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19251108 Nov 8th [1925]
VWL1749 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430209 Feb 9 [1943]
VWL1790 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430625 June 25 [1943]
VWL1753 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Henry Wood 19430222 22 February [1943]
VWL2520 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 19521022 Oct 22 [1952]
VWL3311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 19560325 March 25th 1956.
VWL2352 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Bardgett 195202-- [?February 1952]
VWL3358 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19560723 July 23rd 1956.
VWL2332 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19511218 18th December, 1951.
VWL2973 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19500809 9th August, 1950.
VWL2095 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19460915 [Mid September 1946]
VWL2263 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19510706 6th July, 1951.
VWL3499 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 195608-- [August 1956]
VWL2499 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19521015 Oct 15 [1952]
VWL2669 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL2702 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530711 July 11th 1953.
VWL2708 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530802 August 2nd 1953.
VWL2982 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19490406 6th April, 1949.
VWL2134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19461018 Oct 18 [1946?]

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