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.

Filter letters

Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL1532 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herwald Ramsbotham 19410501 May 1st 1941
VWL2923 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hiromichi Koike 19531208 December 8th 1953 
VWL1484 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hiromichi Koike 19561105 November 5th 1956
VWL3781 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Horace Edward Randerson 19250409 April 9th [1925]
VWL3782 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Horace Edward Randerson 19360517 May 17 [about 1936]
VWL3783 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Horace Edward Randerson 1940---- [about 1940?]
VWL3784 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Horace Edward Randerson 192504-- [April 1925]
VWL2110 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert and Dora Foss 19501018 October 18th, 1950
VWL662 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Clifford 193903-- [Early 1939]
VWL184 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350106 [6 January 1935]
VWL2495 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19521014 October 14th 1952
VWL2614 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19530120 20th January, 1953.
VWL1843 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 194311-- [1943]
VWL2195 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510221 21st. February, 1951
VWL2258 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510624 [24th June 1951]
VWL2260 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510627 27th June, 1951
VWL2294 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511114 Nov 14 [1951]
VWL1588 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19411117 Nov 17 [1941]
VWL313 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350329 March 29 [before 1935]
VWL828 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 192910-- [?late 1929]
VWL1050 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19330318 March 18 [1933]
VWL1066 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19330720 [20th July l933]
VWL719 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19350219 June 6 [1935]
VWL2320 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511205 5th December 1951
VWL2361 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520202 2nd February, 1952
VWL2383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520317 March 17 [1952]
VWL2632 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19530201 [1st February 1953]
VWL1713 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19421020 Oct 20 [1942]
VWL1734 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19421113 Nov 13 [1942]
VWL1981 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19500315 15th March, l950.

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