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
VWL4395 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19080707 July 7th [1908]
VWL4396 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19090609 9 Juin 1909
VWL4397 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Frances Farrer, Secretary of the Leith Hill Musical Competitions 192910-- [October 1929]
VWL4398 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460808 Aug 8 [1946]
VWL4399 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460312 March 12 [1946]
VWL4400 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19460818 Aug 18 [1946]
VWL4401 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Evangeline Farrer 19440508 May 8 [1944]
VWL4402 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 19440604 June 4 1944
VWL4403 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 19300325 [25 March 1930]
VWL4404 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Susan Lushington 1940---- [about 1940?]
VWL4405 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Bray 19580719 July 19th 1958.
VWL4423 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Treasurer of the Leith Hill Musical Festival 19531223 December 23rd 1953.
VWL4424 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to the Treasurer of the Leith Hill Musical Festival 19550113 Jan 13 1954 [i.e.1955]
VWL4425 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sir Edwin Herbert 19561223 December 23rd 1956.
VWL4426 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Sir Edwin Herbert 19540125 January 25th [1954?]

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