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
VWL2107 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501014 Oct. 14 [1950]
VWL2111 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501018 18th October, 1950.
VWL2115 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19501030 Oct. 30 [1950]
VWL2119 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19501112 Nov 12 [1950]
VWL2175 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510122 Jan 22 [1951]
VWL2178 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19510124 24th January, 1951.
VWL2188 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19510207 7th February 1951
VWL2261 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19510701 Sunday [?1 July 1951]
VWL2276 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19511003 [3 October 1951]
VWL2281 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19511015 Oct 15 [1951]
VWL2311 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Adrian Boult (BBC) 19470730 30th July, 1947.
VWL2346 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 195111-- [probably November 1951]
VWL2349 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19520109 9th January, 1952.
VWL2367 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520219 Feb 19 [1952]
VWL2393 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19520409 9th April, 1952.
VWL2394 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520410 April 10 [1952]
VWL2428 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Guthrie Foote (OUP) 19520621 June 21st 1952.
VWL2456 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Roy Douglas 19520803 August 3rd 1952.
VWL2462 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to G.O. May (OUP) 19520827 27th August, 1952.
VWL2465 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520909 September 9th [1952]
VWL2468 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Hubert Foss 19520917 17th September, 1952
VWL2478 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521001 1st October, 1952.
VWL2522 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Barbirolli 19521026 October 26th [1952]
VWL2523 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frank Merrick 19521027 October 27th 1952.
VWL2524 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521027 October 27th 1952.
VWL2525 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521210 10 Dec. 1952
VWL2527 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521029 29th October, 1952.
VWL2551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19521127 27th November, 1952.
VWL2555 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to William McKie 19521217 17th December, 1952.
VWL2568 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19530105 Jan 5 [1953]

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