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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
VWL1186 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19471227 December 27 [1947?]
VWL4293 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150630 June 30th, [1915]
VWL4306 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1914---- Saturday [late 1914]
VWL4318 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150331 March 31 [1915]
VWL4410 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1912---- Sat. [ca 1912]
VWL4417 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19130521 Wednesday [21 May, 1913]
VWL4415 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19130129 Tuesday, [29 January, 1913]
VWL4419 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191401-- Friday, [January, 1914]
VWL4305 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191505-- Sunday [May 1915]
VWL4314 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19140817 Monday [17 August, 1914]
VWL4290 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150515 May 19 [1915]
VWL4301 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 191402-- Friday [February, 1914]
VWL4304 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1914---- Monday, [late 1914]
VWL4534 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19480501 May 1 [1948?]
VWL4536 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19501011 October 11, [1950]
VWL4414 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19130118 Friday, [18 January, 1913]
VWL4522 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19441226 December 26 [1944]
VWL4411 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1912---- Monday [ca 1912]
VWL4520 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19440314 March 14 [1944]
VWL4525 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 1946-- [November, 1946]
VWL4533 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19491223 December 23 [1949]
VWL4201 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19530201 [1 February, 1953]
VWL4537 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2593 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19541216 December 16th 1954
VWL4505 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 193710-- [October 1937]
VWL4512 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19411016 Oct 16 [1941?]
VWL4188 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19561211 December 11th 1956.
VWL4203 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 195302-- [February, 1953]
VWL4193 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan and Martin Shaw 19571022 October 22nd 1957.
VWL4218 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin & Joan Shaw 19541014 Oct 14 [1954]

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