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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
VWL2327 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19471014 Oct 14th [1947]
VWL2362 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19520202 2nd February, 1952.
VWL2488 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19521013 October 13th 1952.
VWL2610 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530110 January 10th 1953.
VWL2615 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530120 20th January, 1953.
VWL2655 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530215 15th February 1953.
VWL2694 Letter from Ralph and Ursula Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19530620 June 20th 1953.
VWL2722 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19400924 Sep 24 [?1940]
VWL2723 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19390925 Sept 25 [?1939 ]
VWL2733 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19531014 October 14th 1953.
VWL2768 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480610 10th June, 1948.
VWL2770 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480617 17th June, 1948.
VWL2792 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480915 Sept 15 1948
VWL2801 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19480919 Sunday [19th September 1948]
VWL2833 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19481014 14th October, 1948.
VWL2878 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19541020 [About 20th October 1954]
VWL3000 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19490511 11th May, 1949.
VWL3057 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491130 Nov 30 [?1949]
VWL3135 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491013 Thursday [Oct 13/49.]
VWL3139 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19491002 Oct 2nd [?1949]
VWL3148 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19490914 14th September, 1949.
VWL3205 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19551013 October 13th 1955.
VWL3430 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19561005 October 5th 1956
VWL3542 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19570828 August 28th 1957.
VWL3577 Letter from Ralph Vaughan Williams to Arnold Barter 19571013 Oct 13 [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