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
VWL2487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19521012 October 12th, 1952
VWL2492 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19511014 Oct 14 [1951]
VWL2650 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Jack Gordon 19530214 February 14th 1953.
VWL2804 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19480930 30th September, 1948.
VWL2903 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Robert Müller Hartmann 1946---- [1946 or later]
VWL2936 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481216 16th December, 1948.
VWL2946 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490209 9th February, 1949
VWL2954 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490217 17th February, 1949.
VWL2959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490309 9th March, 1949
VWL2961 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490315 March 15 [1949]
VWL2978 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mrs H.F. Stewart 19490330 30th March, 1949.
VWL2979 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490330 30th March, 1949
VWL3176 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19490622 22nd. June, 1949.
VWL3272 Letter from Urusla Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580727 July 27th 1958
VWL3273 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19580724 [24 July 1958]
VWL3288 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.E. Moore 19560215 February 15th 1956.
VWL3349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Simona Pakenham 19560706 July 6th 1956
VWL3377 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580209 February 9th [1958]
VWL3601 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19571029 October 29th 1957
VWL3780 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 1929032- [Late March 1929]
VWL3864 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1952---- Whit Sunday [1952?]
VWL3879 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Grace Williams 1931---- [1931]
VWL4111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Brian Trowell 19560301 March 1st 1956.
VWL4153 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 195108-- [August 1951?]
VWL4559 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 1946---- [early 1946]
VWL4560 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney Waddington 1929---- [early 1929?]
VWL4670 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19400327 Wednesday [March 27 1940]
VWL4672 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19460105 Saturday night [5.1.46]
VWL4681 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19470329 Wednesday [March 29 1947]
VWL4809 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 192808-- [August 1928?]

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