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
VWL1866 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19440218 Feb 18 [1944]
VWL1889 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Victor Hely-Hutchinson (BBC) 19450514 May 14th 1945.
VWL1910 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19440404 [4th April 1944]
VWL1911 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Norman Peterkin 19440430 [30th April 1944]
VWL1927 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19440818 August 18 [1944]
VWL1931 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright (BBC) 19440903 Sept 3 [1944]
VWL1932 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Reverend James Welch 19440908 Sept 8 [1944]
VWL1933 Letter from James W. Welch (BBC) to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19440912 12th September, 1944.
VWL1937 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Victor Hely-Hutchinson (BBC) 19441013 [13 October 1944]
VWL1940 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19441015 October 15 [1944]
VWL1952 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19441225 Xmas day [1944]
VWL1959 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Victor Hely-Hutchinson (BBC) 194410-- [October 1944]
VWL1993 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Iris Lemare 19500511 11th May 1950
VWL2017 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.L. Eastwood 19500705 5th July, 1950.
VWL2026 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19460115 Jan 15 [1946]
VWL2073 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19500809 9th August, 1950.
VWL2080 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Trevelyan 19500901 1st September 1950
VWL2086 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Miss Leslie (BBC) 19500920 Sep 20 [1950]
VWL2105 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Julian Herbage (BBC) 19501011 11th October, 1950.
VWL2140 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the BBC 19461119 Nov 19/46
VWL2173 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19510115 Jan 15 [1951?]
VWL2211 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alec Robertson (BBC) 19510329 29th March, 1951.
VWL2249 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Douglas Lilburn 19510523 23rd May, 1951.
VWL2293 Letter from Hubert Foss to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19511112 [About 12th November 1951]
VWL2294 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19511114 Nov 14 [1951]
VWL2297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Rev. W. D. Kennedy Bell (BBC) 19511114 14th November, 1951.
VWL2316 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Lowe (BBC) 19470814 14th August, 1947.
VWL2323 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kenneth Wright 19471001 1st October, 1947.
VWL2324 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19471004 Oct 4th 1947
VWL2414 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to R.C. Walton (BBC) 19520522 22nd. May, 1952.

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