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.

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Letter No. Title Date Date on Letter
VWL986 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311214 [14 December 1931]
VWL988 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311217 [17 December 1931]
VWL991 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19311230 [30 December 1931]
VWL1006 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19320807 [7 August 1932]
VWL1021 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19321115 [15 November 1932]
VWL1028 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330120 Saturday [20 January 1933]
VWL1029 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Adrian Boult 19330123 [23 January 1933]
VWL1034 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gustav Holst 193301-- [About January 1933]
VWL1036 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193302-- [Late February 1933]
VWL1042 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330128 [28 January 1933]
VWL1043 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19330201 Wed [1st Feb 1933]
VWL1048 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330311 [11 March 1933]
VWL1062 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193307-- [About July 1933]
VWL1063 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330722 [22 July 1933]
VWL1064 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330725 July 25 [1933]
VWL1067 Letter from Harriet Cohen to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19330722 22nd July, 1933.
VWL1068 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330817 [17 August 1933]
VWL1069 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330817 [17 August l933]
VWL1071 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330802 [2 August 1933]
VWL1075 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330803 [3 August 1933]
VWL1087 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330824 [24 August 1933]
VWL1097 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Elizabeth Maconchy 19330923 [About 23rd September 1933]
VWL1098 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19330925 [25 September 1933]
VWL1099 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331001 [About 1 October 1933]
VWL1102 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331016 [16 October 1933]
VWL1117 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19361231 [31 December 1936]
VWL1118 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331025 [25 October l933]
VWL1123 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 19331113 [13 November 1933]
VWL1133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193305-- [?May 1933]
VWL1177 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Harriet Cohen 193110-- [late October 1931]

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