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
VWL2130 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19461013 Oct 13 [1946]
VWL2131 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Howells 19461014 Oct 14 [1946]
VWL2134 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Herbert Byard 19461018 Oct 18 [1946?]
VWL2187 Letter from A.L.P. Norrington to Norman Peterkin (OUP) 19470612 12th June, 1947.
VWL2738 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Eslyn Kennedy 19531101 [About 1 November 1953]
VWL2810 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Katharine Thomson 19481014 Oct 14 [1948]
VWL2856 Letter from Adrian Boult to Alan Frank (OUP) 19481210 10 December 1948
VWL2890 Presentation of Dr Ralph Vaughan Williams to President A. Whitney Griswold by Dean Luther Noss. 19541201 [1 Dec 1954]
VWL2891 Letter from Keith Falkner to Luther Noss 19541212 12 xii 54
VWL2939 Letter from Adeline Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19481230 December 30 [1948]
VWL2940 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19490106 January 6 [1949]
VWL3004 Letter from Adrian Boult to Adeline Vaughan Williams 19490526 May 26th 1949
VWL3118 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19491106 November 6 [1949]
VWL3132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gerald Finzi 19491018 Tuesday [18th October 1949]
VWL3189 Letter from Herbert Byard to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19600427 27 April 1960
VWL3190 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Nigel Fortune 19590104 January 4th, 1959
VWL3191 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Mrs Ross Lee Finney 19581122 22nd November 1958
VWL3194 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Norman Del Mar 19580921 September 21st 1958
VWL3195 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Lady Jessie Wood 19580915 September 15th 1958
VWL3196 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Margaret Keynes 19580909 September 9th, 1958
VWL3197 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Vera Mackenzie and Molly Hodge 19580904 Sept. 4, 1958
VWL3224 Letter from Benjamin Britten to Ursula Vaughan Williams 19580828 August 28th 1958
VWL3250 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 193505-- Monday night [May 1935?]
VWL3251 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Marion Scott 192703-- Wednesday [March 1927?]
VWL3276 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19580708 [8 July 1958]
VWL3502 Piece on Ralph Vaughan Williams by John Ireland 195809-- [1958]
VWL3531 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570723 [23rd July 1957]
VWL3538 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19570811 August 11th 1957.
VWL3549 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19570919 Thursday, [19th September 1957]
VWL3558 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael Kennedy 19571126 November 26th [1957].

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