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
VWL3161 Letter from Jean Sibelius to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19490811 August 11, 1949
VWL3164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19490810 10th August, 1949.
VWL3258 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560119 Jan 19th [1956]
VWL3259 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19560122 January 22nd 1956.
VWL3368 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Laurence Taylor 19560827 August 27th 1956
VWL3375 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19580215 February 15th 1958.
VWL3680 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19460220 Feb 20 [1946]
VWL3681 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19460521 May 21 [1946]
VWL3682 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19460705 July 5 [1946]
VWL3683 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19470207 Feb 7 [1947]
VWL3684 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19471004 October 4th [1947?]
VWL3685 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Michael Mullinar 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL3909 Letter from LeRoy Van Hoesen, jr to Olin Downes 19550527 May 27, 1955
VWL3910 Letter from Olin Downes to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550602 June 2, 1955
VWL3911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to LeRoy Van Hoesen jr 19550620 June 20th 1955
VWL4047 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Bill, Annette and Jane 19471017 Oct 17 [1947]
VWL4297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 19551007 October 7th 1955.
VWL4329 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cedric Glover 19470513 13 May 1947
VWL4358 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19480210 Feb 10 [1948]
VWL4368 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Victor Sheppard 19490722 July 22 [1949]
VWL4369 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Mary Sheppard 19490805 August 5 [1949]
VWL4372 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Mary Sheppard 19490914 Sept 14 1949
VWL4469 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Howes 19520604 4th June, 1952.
VWL4534 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19480501 May 1 [1948?]
VWL4556 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19470513 13 May, 1947
VWL4923 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 195102-- Thursday [February 1951]
VWL5010 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Buckland 19480812 12th August, 1948.
VWL5125 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19480812 12th August, 1948.
VWL5126 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Serge Koussevitsky 19480819 19th August 1948.
VWL5187 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Geoffrey Corbett 19470531 31 May 1947

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