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
VWL514 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Lucy Broadwood 19230403 3rd April 1923
VWL1186 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19471227 December 27 [1947?]
VWL1510 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390115 [15th January 1939]
VWL1511 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19390115 [15th January 1939]
VWL1884 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19450401 April 1 [1945]
VWL2156 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470215 [mid February 1947]
VWL2179 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cecil Armstrong Gibbs 19510131 31st. January, 1951
VWL2282 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511017 17th October, 1951.
VWL2288 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19511024 24th October, 1951.
VWL2290 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19511031 31st. October, 1951
VWL2383 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520317 March 17 [1952]
VWL2403 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19520416 16th April, 1952.
VWL2420 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19471125 Nov 25 [1947]
VWL2541 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19480119 Jan 19 [1948]
VWL2544 Letter from Ernest Irving to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19480122 22nd January, 1948.
VWL2653 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530215 February 15th 1953.
VWL2664 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530302 March 2nd 1953
VWL2669 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19530318 18th March, 1953.
VWL2741 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19531124 November 24th 1953
VWL2753 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19540110 January 10th 1954.
VWL2786 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19540210 February 10th 1954.
VWL2796 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19540302 March 2nd 1954.
VWL2855 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19481208 8th December, 1948.
VWL2974 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the conductors and the choirs of the Leith Hill Musical Festival 19490324 24th March, 1949.
VWL2996 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19550210 February 10th [1955]
VWL3007 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Bowen 19461008 October 8th, 1946
VWL3137 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs Isidore Schwiller 19491013 Oct 13 [1949]
VWL3189 Letter from Herbert Byard to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19600427 27 April 1960
VWL3258 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560119 Jan 19th [1956]
VWL3279 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joyce Hooper 19580629 June 29th 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