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
VWL3120 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491102 2nd November, 1949
VWL3131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Isidore Schwiller 19491019 19th October 1949
VWL3551 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Bush 19571231 December 31st 1957.
VWL3638 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Kathleen Merritt 193906-- Tuesday [?June 1939 ]
VWL3709 Letter from Alan Bush to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19571231 December 31st, 1957.
VWL3774 Letter from Robert Müller-Hartmann to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19461028 28th Oct. 1946
VWL3790 Letter from Alan Bush to Adolph Borsdorf 19571231 December 31st, 1957.
VWL4148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19500503 3rd May, 1950.
VWL4160 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19520202 2nd. February, 1952.
VWL4290 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150515 May 19 [1915]
VWL4314 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19140817 Monday [17 August, 1914]
VWL4452 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Alan Frank (OUP) 19491026 26th October, 1949.
VWL4623 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sidney Newman 19520312 12th March, 1952.
VWL4625 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19340622 Friday [22 June 1934]
VWL4770 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Maud Karpeles 19250131 [31 January 1925]
VWL4833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Clive Carey 19150808 Aug 8th 1915

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