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
VWL640 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19281107 Wednesday [7th November 1928]
VWL638 Letter from Lucy Broadwood to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19281101 [About 1st November 1928]
VWL4391 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Claud Powell 19160502 2 May 16
VWL3012 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Derek Hudson 19570208 February 8th 1957.
VWL4388 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19400208 Feb 8 [1940]
VWL4386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19400303 March 3 [1940]
VWL4393 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19140525 25 May 1914
VWL4398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460808 Aug 8 [1946]
VWL4399 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460312 March 12 [1946]
VWL4400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460818 Aug 18 [1946]
VWL4390 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19380606 June 6 [1938 or 1939]
VWL4401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19440508 May 8 [1944]
VWL4387 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19400209 Feb 9 [1940]
VWL4396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19090609 9 Juin 1909
VWL4392 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460308 March 8th [about 1946?]
VWL4395 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19080707 July 7th [1908]
VWL4397 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frances Farrer, Secretary of the Leith Hill Musical Competitions 192910-- [October 1929]
VWL4405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Bray 19580719 July 19th 1958.
VWL4394 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lady Goodrich 191405-- [May 1914]
VWL251 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Laura Vaughan Williams 189707-- [July 1897]
VWL4389 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lord Farrer 19350607 June 7th [1935]
VWL386 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19130122 [22 January 1913]
VWL826 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 192908-- [Before August 1929]
VWL129 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19020714 [14 July 1902]
VWL637 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19281030 October 30 [1928]
VWL180 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19021002 2nd October 1902
VWL639 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19281107 7th November 1928
VWL3396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19580128 January 28th 1958.
VWL3061 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL3297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Margery Cullen 19580526 May 26th 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