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
VWL3198 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19550918 September 18th [1955]
VWL3366 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19560820 August 20th [1956]
VWL3425 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joy Finzi 19560929 Saturday [29th September 1956]
VWL3429 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Michael and Eslyn Kennedy 19561002 2nd [October 1956]
VWL3660 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19540924 Sept 24th [1954]
VWL3661 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19541026 26th October 1954
VWL3833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Olin Downes 19390112 January 12 [1939]
VWL3902 Letter from Gustav Holst to Ralph Vaughan Williams 19320415 April 15 [1932]
VWL3922 Letter from Ilse to Alan Bush 19370131 31/1/37.
VWL3966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Ralph Wedgwood 1895---- [1895?]
VWL4132 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 192701-- Sunday, [January, ?1927]
VWL4133 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Christopher le Fleming 19270113 Jan 13 [?1927]
VWL4197 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 195808-- [August, 1958]
VWL4219 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19540715 [between 11-19, July, 1954]
VWL4243 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19580601 June 1st. [1958]
VWL4245 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19530617 June 17th [1953]
VWL4252 Letter from Ursula Vaughan Williams to Joan Shaw 19570817 August 17th [1958]
VWL4255 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Florent Schmitt 191402-- [February, 1914]
VWL4297 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Malcolm Sargent 19551007 October 7th 1955.
VWL4318 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19150331 March 31 [1915]
VWL4458 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to René Gatty 1898---- Tuesday [early summer 1898?]
VWL4487 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Nancy Evans 19551003 October 3rd 1955.
VWL4517 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19431205 Dec 5 [1943?]
VWL4519 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Martin Shaw 19440125 Jan 24 [1944]
VWL4594 Letter from Adeline Vaughan Williams to Cordelia Curle 19230427 Friday [27 April 1923]
VWL4641 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to John Wilson 19571015 October 15th 1957.
VWL4966 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Sylvia Spencer 19491123 23rd November, 1949.
VWL5005 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to James Craufurd (Madrigal Society) 19511017 17th October, 1951
VWL5159 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19541102 1954 Nov 2
VWL5164 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Gilmour Jenkins 19541126 Nov 26 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